As Bah-Tee-Fala pulled her bodysuit and robe back on, and Byron finished securing his armor, he had an honest discussion with her about himself and the women of his crew. When he finished, her forehead wrinkled and she shook her head.

"So," she whispered, "they do not mind that you are sleeping with the others?"

He shrugged and spoke in his normal tone of voice. "No, not at all." He didn't see a point in hiding their conversation. The other girls probably already knew what they'd been doing.

The furrows on her brow deepened. She took the hint and spoke louder, but still sounded hesitant. "But why?"

"We're not jealous, I guess. Are you?"

She shook her head while turning away. "Well, no, of course not. I mean, we are not dating. We just met. I just cannot imagine three women not minding that their boyfriend or whatever is involved with others."

"It's kind of weird, yeah, and I didn't ask for this situation. It just happened."

Fala's lips curled up in a smirk. "Yes, but you cannot lie to me and say you are not enjoying it."

"Well, sure." Byron snapped his belt into place around his hips. "I am. But I'm not out here to hurt someone. If it bothered one of them or anyone else I cared about, I would put things right."

Fala let out a giggle and came up to him to kiss him quickly. "You sound worried. Do not fear. I have no intention of upsetting your little sexual paradise here. As I said, you are handsome and I wanted that release with you, but I'm not looking for anything long-term, and I will not interfere."

"Okay." He felt a little relieved but also concerned. He had started to wonder if every female NPC he met in Venus Online was a horny bisexual into polyamory who would be jumping into his harem. It seemed like Fala was the exception.

After getting dressed, they headed to the bridge.

Xana met them along the way. "Chetaara's still sleeping."

He nodded. "I guess she wasn't kidding when she said that took a lot out of her."

She swept her ponytail over her shoulder. "Yes. Her NRG regenerates at the rate of one unit every fifteen minutes. When her NRG reserves exhausted, her implant began drawing strength from her health. I used a medpack to repair some of the damage, but it will still be a while before she fully recovers, and even longer for her NRG reserves to refill completely."

"Okay. Well, the rest will do her good."

"Yes. We all needed that little break." She threw an arched eyebrow up at him with a little wink.

He blushed again. Even Xana was throwing shade at his escapades.

When they reached the bridge, the distant song of hyperspace had faded, and the Icarus cruised through a solar system crowded with dark shadows. In the distance, a sun glowed to show three distant planets, along with what looked like thousands of starships.

As they passed one of the spaceships, he saw it was just a broken husk with half of it floating in pieces alongside it.

Scarlett held up a finger at it. "Fun fact, these are all ships that tried to fuck with Zemmikabi Prime."

"What?" He blinked at her. "Are you serious?"

"Serious as shit. You thought I was playing?"

"Well--"

"Ninety percent of the pirates in the Galaxy like to hang out here. Why do you think the Galactic Patrol doesn't just come in here and round everybody up? Because ninety percent of the pirates in the Galaxy like to hang out here, and they've got some of the most powerful weapons and ships in the universe. And they don't like outsiders."

Byron watched another wrecked ship go by. "And we're gonna walk in there and steal one of the most precious items in the Galaxy from them. This'll work."

It seemed like the game liked stating the obvious, which is probably why text popped up in front of him at that moment.

OBJECTIVE: COLLECT THE SECOND DARK STORM GEM

REWARD: 2000 XP, 400 CREDITS

He turned to Fala who had her hands over her mouth. "Okay, time to strategize. Where's the gem?"

She drew a small data tablet out of her robe and tapped on the screen. "The gem's map pointed to the country of West Kaleppso, but it wasn't specific. It seems to be in this general area."

One of the screens lit up with a display of the largest planet in the solar system. A red dot blinked on one continent.

Scarlett punched keys until the continent grew larger, zooming in to a city. "That's Skull City, the capital of West Kaleppso."

Fala held up a hand. "When I was able to analyze one of the gems, I discovered they give off a unique energy signature. Once I'm closer to the second gem, I will be able to track it more accurately to find its exact location."

Xana sat at her engineering console and spoke in a soft voice. "I-I took a look at Zemmikabi's computer network. Its security, it's a joke. I can hack into it and register our ship as a pirate vessel in their database. They'd probably catch it in a few hours, um, but it would be enough to give us time to search."

He nodded. "Sounds good."

Scarlett closed one eye and held up her hand with a finger curved like a hook. "All we gotta do is act like pirates. Arr, matey!"

Byron took a deep breath as the Icarus approached the planet Zemikabi Prime. "This could work."

=×=

According to Scarlett's running commentary, Zemmikabi Prime had once been a thriving world with a rich civilization until it was overrun by pirates. The natives either fled or were killed, leaving the cities to be taken over. The entire planet now belonged to the pirates who used it to trade, hide from police, and party.

When the Icarus entered the planet's atmosphere, the communications screen lit up with a scowling man's face. The man's metal jaw whined from rusty gears as he snarled, "Halt, ye be enterin' pirate territory. Identify yerself or we blow ye out o' the sky."

Scarlett gave Xana a glance. "Sure thing, Cap'n Crunch."

She tapped keys on her console.

The man with the metal jaw looked at something out of view before nodding. "Ah, ye be cleared for landing. Be sure to keep yer explosive weapons on board."

Byron leaned closer. "What's that mean?"

"I'm surprised ye never heard. Zemmikabi Prime has a detonillic field over most of the cities. Any gunpowder, concussive weapons, or even laser fire would set off an explosion to burn yer face clean off. Only weapons allowed are blades." The man held up a gold-plated knife and grinned.

"We'll keep that in mind. Icarus out." Byron tapped the comm to shut it down. "Of course that makes sense. What would a pirate planet be without swords?"

Xana gave them all a rare smile. "Only swords? My kind of place."

As the Icarus flew over Skull City, Byron could see huge towers painted with wild colors and insignia. It was night on Zemmikabi Prime, and fires burned in the streets and windows of buildings.

There was no formal spaceport, so Scarlett just found an open space with a lot of other ships to land next to. It looked like it had once been an airport with wrecked aircraft surrounding roaring starships.

By the time the Icarus had landed, Chetaara was up and joined them in arming themselves and putting on armor. Xana only had two collapsible swords, so Byron kept one and the others packed knives. They found sheets that they cut and turned into cloaks to wear to try to make themselves less conspicuous.

Fala had her tablet out and studied its screen. "It looks like the gem is located less than a mile from here. Due northwest."

Byron checked the ammo on his Scorpio pistol before slipping it into his holster. "Okay, everybody stay close."

He opened the airlock and stepped out into chaos. It reminded him of a scene out of Mad Max. People rode by on what looked like motorcycles that hovered instead of rolling on wheels. Men and women in rusty armor partied everywhere while barrel fires raged. In one corner, a man wearing nothing below the waist humped a naked woman from behind while a crowd cheered him on.

Fala pointed down the street. "This way."

They began to walk, trying to keep to the shadows.

Scarlett came up alongside Byron and whispered, "Hey, this could really help our cash flow problem. Especially if we get our hands on that treasure."

He shot her a glare. "You heard Xana. This treasure has scientific value. It belongs in a museum."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that Indiana Jones shit. I'm not saying we keep all of it, but maybe there's a few things we can slip in our pockets when no one is looking. Or maybe there's a reward."

He wanted to say no, but had to admit she had a point. The fight with the Black Thorn reminded him he needed to upgrade his ship. He would have to fight Captain Blueboobs again during this quest, and at some point, he would face the Necralia Empire again, and he wanted to be ready. He needed better weapons for both his crew and the ship. He also needed enough food and medpacks to support himself and his crew. All of that took credits, and he didn't think grinding away on random missions would get him what he needed.

Fala raised her tablet and turned to point at a building. "The gem is in there."

They all looked at a building with a glowing sign on it that read, "Ye Olde Red Rhino Pub." It was built on what had once been an old and crumbling mansion, and more of the wild pirates gathered around the front entrance. They yelled and shoved each other, ignoring Byron and his crew as they slipped inside.

The inside of the bar looked a lot like the ones he'd seen in pirate movies, which he was sure wasn't a coincidence. Clouds of smoke choked the air that smelled of cigarettes, weed, and other substances he didn't recognize.

On a stage, a band of robots played music for grimy men and women in ragged clothes and armor who howled, sang, and laughed. Mugs of foamy beer hoisted in the air.

Some of the pirates had missing limbs replaced by cybernetic arms and legs instead of hooks and peg legs, but that was the only real difference. All of them had very large and sharp swords on their belts.

A few gathered at one table also had a red light glowing over their heads to show they were real players and not NPCs. When they caught sight of him, they started yelling and waving at him.

"Hey, a fellow human," one yelled. "Come on over, join our clan, the Bitchun Society!"

Byron waved them off. "Sorry, guys. Kind of in the middle of something."

One of the other player pirates yelled. "What, you wanna hang around with a bunch of NPCs instead of us solids?"

"Hey, I'm on a mission. Trying to stop someone who's gonna destroy the Galaxy."

"Somebody's always tryin' to destroy the Galaxy, man. It'll wait." The pirate held up a beer mug. "But this right here is premium lager, and we got a lead on a dungeon that'll get us eight thousand XP, easy."

The first pirate snorted. "Ah, he's gone native. Thinks this shit is real."

The pirates turned back to their drinks, grumbling.

Byron walked away from the table, feeling weird. They were right. He had tricked himself into thinking this virtual world was reality. He needed to get grounded, hang out with some human players and get the lay of the land.

Still, he was trying to save the Galaxy, whether the other players thought that was important or not. He knew it was just a video game, but there were real players connected to it. If planets were destroyed, lives in the real world could be lost, not to mention the virtual lives that he found himself growing increasingly closer to.

He'd worry about his grip on reality later. After he'd saved the Galaxy.

Byron moved through the bar, trying to avoid thrown fists and beer mugs, to an empty table in the corner. Chetaara, Scarlett, and Xana joined him. Fala moved a little slower as she kept her eyes on her tablet.

A plump waitress wearing nothing but a skirt came up to the table. "What can I get you, ladies and gentlemen?"

Scarlett's eyes lit up with excitement. "Do you have margaritas?"

The waitress' bare breasts jiggled as she laughed. "This ain't a margarita kinda place, honey."

Scarlett pouted. "Ah, shit."

Byron held up a finger and spun it in a circle. "Beers all around."

"That we can do. Coming right up." The waitress walked away, dodging around a guy who tried to grab her wide ass.

Byron raised his eyebrows at Fala. "Picking up anything?"

Fala nodded and pointed to her tablet, where a map of bar had a glowing red dot. "The gem is directly below us."

He looked down at the scuffed wooden floor. "Might be in a basement or buried underground."

Chetaara looked around the table at the others. "How do we retrieve it?"

Byron looked around until he spotted a small trapdoor in the floor across the room. "Through there. We need to slip downstairs. We'll need a distraction."

Scarlett stood up. "No problem."

Before he could ask how, Scarlett grabbed a mug from another table and smashed it over the head of a bearded pirate behind her.

The pirate exploded out of his chair, dripping with broken glass and beer, and clenched his fists at her. "Hey, what the fuck?"

She gave him a wide smile. "Chuck said to give you that. He also said to tell you your Momma's a whore who eats shit and he paid her twenty credits to fuck her in the ass last night."

The pirate's sunburned face wrinkled. "Chuck? Who-I don't know any Chuck."

"Yeah, you do." She pointed all the way across the room at a pirate with two metal legs sitting at a table. "He's right over there."

The pirate snarled and clenched a fist in her face. "I'll deal with you in a minute."

He charged across the bar, shoving people aside, until he faced the pirate with two metal legs. Byron couldn't hear what they said, only saw the two of them yelling right before the bearded pirate punched the metal-legged pirate in the jaw.

The other pirates at the table leaped up to punch the bearded pirate, and other pirates joined in.

The bar collapsed into chaos as punches and kicks flew from every pirate in the place attacking every other pirate. A collective "shing" rang out as people drew swords and began hacking away at limbs and bodies.

Scarlett ducked as a beer bottle flew over her head and smashed into the wall. "There's your distraction!"

Byron called out, "I would have liked something a little less distracting, but that'll work. You all stay here. Fala, let's go."

The two of them made their way across the bar, trying to stay low and dodge the flying fists and glass. They reached the trapdoor in the floor, and he pulled it open. No one seemed to notice as they slipped through it. They pulled the trapdoor shut just as a table smashed over it.

Byron made his way down a stone staircase to go deeper underground. The sounds of screaming and crashing grew faint as he turned on his flashlight and shone it into the darkness.

The air smelled musty as they went deeper. The staircase led into a basement where they found barrels and bottles of liquor lined up everywhere. Fala kept her eyes on her tablet as they moved across the floor.

She pointed. "Straight ahead."

He drew his sword and pushed a button to make the blade slide out.

A small creature like a rat with spider legs scrambled out of the darkness. It moved so fast that it sprang up and clamped its teeth onto his ankle before he even got a good look at it.

-1 HEALTH

He screamed and kicked it off. The creature rolled and got back up before rushing at him again.

He sliced the creature in half and took a step back with his ankle throbbing with pain.

+10 XP

A rustling noise made him look behind them. Two more of the rat-spiders scuttled out of the darkness.

"Come on," he murmured.

They hissed and lunged at him.

He chopped one but the other danced around to leap onto his arm. It bit into his wrist before he could smash it up against one of the crates. He stabbed it as it landed on the ground.

+20 XP

-1 HEALTH

He looked around at the narrow halls and darkness. "It's a dungeon."

Fala gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Nothing."

He kept it to himself, but he knew every RPG he'd ever played had levels where you made your way through it. Even in space-based RPGs, they were called dungeons. This one looked a lot like the basement of a medieval castle, making the description even more accurate.

He continued on his way through the darkness, keeping an eye out for more rat-spiders. As they turned a corner, one of the creatures lit up. He jabbed it before it even turned around.

+10 XP

"Horrible creatures." Fala shuddered and pointed. "The gem should be right up ahead."

They crept forward.

Something big rumbled in the darkness like a lion hiding in the grass.

He froze while holding up his hand to stop Fala. "Wait."

He shone the light further ahead. It seemed to reflect off something red in front of them.

An eye.

A creature came roaring out of the shadows, huge and hairy with an open mouth filled with fangs. It had eight thick legs that tore grooves out of the floor. It looked like a bigger and uglier version of the rat-spiders that had been attacking them.

Fala screamed as Byron slashed at the creature. Its health bar dropped but not enough as his sword sank into its side. The rat-spider whipped its head around to knock him to the floor.

Its open mouth clamped onto his leg. His armor kept the teeth from breaking through but allowed it to swing his body into the air. The creature slammed him into a wall, knocking several points off his health and leaving him twisting in pain.

Lying on the floor, he hacked at one of the monster's spindly legs. The blade sliced clean through and the creature staggered as the leg came off.

As it lost its balance, Byron whipped the sword around to jab into the monster's side. Its health dropped, leaving only a third left.

He followed up with a slash at its throat.

The giant rat-spider moaned as it collapsed and its health bar went to empty.

+250 XP

The corpse faded away, leaving a pile of coins.

Fala put her hands on his shoulders as he doubled over. "Are you all right?"

He nodded as his ankle throbbed. "Yeah. Never better. Good boss fight."

Byron pocketed the credits and continued into the darkness, limping from the battle.

They came to a stop at a brick wall.

She looked up and down. "I do not understand. My sensors say it is right in front of us."

Byron looked at the smooth wall. "I have an idea. Can you pinpoint precisely where it is?"

She nodded again, slowly raising and lowering her tablet until she rested her hand on a section of the wall. "It looks like it is right here. I believe it is inside the wall."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking."

He jammed the point of his sword where she pointed. The wall crumbled as bricks and plaster fell away. He kept chipping away until he broke through to a small opening. Reaching inside, he pulled out a tiny wooden chest.

The chest barely fit in the palm of his hand with a simple latch holding it shut.

Fala's hands trembled as she reached out to take the chest and peel open the lid. A ghostly red light poured from inside before she reached in and pulled out the gem. It glowed red, and looked like a round diamond.

"This is it," she whispered.

"Can you analyze it and find the next location of the gem?"

Fala nodded as she handed it to him. It felt slightly warm against his fingers as he held it for her. She tapped on the screen of her tablet which gave off little chirps and beeps.

She broke into a smile. "I have it. It's on Arrion."

He nodded, pretending he knew where that was. "Okay. Let's go."

She placed the gem back into its box, carefully slipped into a pocket of her robe, and followed him as he moved through the basement and climbed the staircase back to the bar.

As he mounted the steps, he listened for the violence he had left behind. The crashing, screaming, and grunting of endless fights had disappeared. Even the music had stopped. He heard only silence.

Byron looked down at Fala, who had a worried look and shook her head. He adjusted his grip on his sword and slowly eased the trapdoor open.

The point of a sword came down, slipping into the gap between the trapdoor and the floor to come up to his face.

"Come on up," a woman's voice said. "Hands where we can see them. Nice and easy."

Byron kept his eyes on the sword as he waved behind him, out of sight of the trap door. Fala apparently got the message, because he could hear Fala scurry down the stairs.

He came up from the trapdoor into the bar and smelled the coppery stench of blood in the air.

Dead bodies lay on the floor, tables, and counters, the remains of most of the bar's customers.

All of them had been sliced and hacked to death.

The only customers left standing were Xana, Chetaara, and Scarlett. Three women in black bikinis stood behind and beside each of them, holding a sword to their throats.

Another woman in a black bikini stood next to the trapdoor, holding the sword to Byron with a mechanical arm. She smirked at him. "That's it, come on up. Keep your hands up."

Byron raised his hands as he let go of the trapdoor. The woman holding the sword on him grabbed his sword and twisted it from his hand. He didn't fight back.

Laughter rang out from the stage where the robots had once been playing. The mangled remains of the shattered robots shoved aside, and the bearded pirate stumbled out, the same one who Scarlett smashed a beer mug over.

A woman strode out after him with blue skin and wearing a black bikini. He recognized her from the screen as Captain Jokah. She wore thigh high boots, a three-cornered hat, and filled out her bikini with thick thighs and heavy breasts.

Captain Jokah walked out across the stage as she held her sword to the throat of the pirate staggering in front of her. She had a wide smile on her face as the lines running over her cheeks glowed. "Oh, goody, goody, you're finally here. I saved this one just for you."

She sliced the bearded pirate's throat and shoved him aside as he collapsed. "Now we can finally start the party."