"There is no escape," Yug grunted mockingly. Cylic knew the Goryllian was telling the truth. Fires were breaking out all around them, and it was clear that the week of constant battle had taken its toll. The single escape pod had been sabotaged by Naruto and Tyr, the strange lovers who wished to fly into the closest star while engaged in sacred, sexual ritual known throughout the galaxy as Kalingi. Even now, muscular limbs entwined, the two warriors hurtled towards their fiery death, taking the only hope of salvation with them.

There were eight in the beginning, eight survivors of the interstellar crash between the penal ship and the lumbering freighter. On board, the scum of the galaxy, the most dangerous outlaws and perverts the Solaron system had ever seen. Four prisoners and four guards, elite warriors all.

Of the eight, only three remained.

"I, Yug, captain of the Berylius Smugglers will defeat you puny ant man. And when you're dead, I will invoke the sacred rite of Kalingi with the snake woman." He motioned to Naja who was still unconcious by his feet, her hands and tail bound by Corvinian rope, the strongest in the known galaxy.

There was no hope left, no reason to fight. The Goryllian was stronger, and Cylic knew that if he were able to defeat him, he would still die without ever performing Kalingi. He was a Cylian outcast, born as a freak to his own people. There was a legend among his race, an ancient tale that spoke of the one who would be born to them without any sexual organs to speak of, a weakling the likes of which the brave Cylians had never seen. He looked down at his pelvic mound, swollen and sore with genetic material, and his insectoid eyes narrowed in sadness.

"What's wrong ant man?" Yug bellowed. "Nothing clever to say? Ha!"

Just then, a blue light filled the open hanger, filling Cylic with a power he had never known. Could this be it, the fabled star of his people?

"No foolish Goryllian," he proclaimed in a high pitched, effeminate voice. "For you see, the comet T'ssuka is bathing me in its radiation."

"Ha!" Yug laughed as his metal fist clanged on his chest. "What does it matter?"

Cyclic's mandibles formed into a smile. "For you see, I am a Cylian, born under the glow of that very comet, raised by Uthuru and trained in the sacred martial art of Fang-hte. I wear the armor of Singra, passed down by Huuuuu, the mightiest of warriors, and blessed with the Iron Fists of Pingippy."

"This means nothing to me ant man," Yug roared. "I care not for your ramblings, for I am Yug, son of Yugran, grandson of Yugi, the first of my kind to ever successfully grapple the Tymicho from planet Shanshar. I will hollow out your skull and drink space beer from it as I perform Kalingi on the snake woman from behind."

Just then, Naja, feigning unconsciousness, slipped free from her ropes using an old Serpenti trick taught to her in the harems of Loong-To. Many a weary traveler had she pleased with her sinuous, coiling body, and there was nary snare she couldn't escape. With a flick of her powerful tail, she leveled Yug, flinging him back against the hull.

"You space whore!" he screamed as he pounded the wall with his powerful fist. "I'll perform Kalingi on you if it's the last thing I…"

There was a rending shriek as the hull buckled and bent. The cold emptiness of space spilled in as the ship ripped into shreds. Yug was screaming as the void took him and Naja one after the other. Cylic held on as long as he could, but it was no use. He too was thrown into the black abyss.

It was a curious thing, bathed in shimmering blue light, feeling his very life ebb away. The frozen waste of space held him, caressed him, and he felt his pelvic mound crack in the icy grip of the universe.

"So…" he muttered as his genetic material was released for the first time in his long life. "So this…this is Kalingi…"

He closed his eyes, savoring the pleasure.

It was the best moment of his life until Yug floated his way and punched him in the dick.