The next morning, both Andrew and Aelita woke up late.
Thankfully, it was the day off, and this time, Aelita didn't need to go to the regeneration tank after their night activities.
They both decided to go see if anything was going on in the territory that demanded their attention.
It might be their day off, but that was no reason to neglect all of their responsibilities.
To their surprise, they found Nairin in the command center.
-Why are you here? I thought that I made myself clear that today is our day off.
Andrew asked, seeing the girl sitting at her console and working on something.
-Then what are you doing here?
She answered a question with a question.
-We won't be here for long. I just want to take a look at the sensor logs and Aelita wants to get a report on the heavy frigates.
Andrew answered.
-So what are you doing?
He then asked, leaving her with no way but to answer.
-I'm waiting on the jump gate to be built.
Nairin answered.
-Alright, but dont connect it yet. I dont want a bunch of merchants to deal with on our day off.
Aelita said.
Only then did the student take a longer look at her, noticing something.
-What do you have on your neck?
She asked, seeing red marks.
Aelita touched her neck and blushed, sending an annoyed glare at Andrew.
-It's nothing.
She quickly replied, but the girl had already connected the dots and blushed as well, imagining what the two of them had done last night.
Just as Aelita was trying to figure out what to say, the door opened, and Arien entered the command center.
She strode straight to Andrew.
-I challenge you to a duel, hand to hand combat, no weapons.
She said, surprising everyone.
-That's an overreaction if I ever saw one.
Nairin commented, hearing the comodore's chalange.
She figured out immediately what this was about and tried her best not to laugh.
-Do you really want a beating?
Andrew asked, once he finally registered what she said.
-I let the sparing session slide, but if you want to officially challenge me, there won't be any leniency just because you're a woman.
Andrew warned her.
-I don't care.
You took liberties with me yesterday, and you have to pay for it.
She said angrily.
Andrew sighed, hearing her words.
-Alright, have it your way.
He finally agreed.
-In two hours, the ring will be the mid-sized storage module, and you might want to inform your people about this.
He said.
If possible, he would have preferred to avoid this, but one look at Arien told him that no matter what he said, she would not change her mind.
-Agreed.
The commodore said, and left to prepare herself.
-Nairin, prepare a ring for us.
Have the droids clean it up and inform everyone about this; I don't want any misunderstandings over this matter.
Andrew said, shaking his head.
In his eyes, she got what she deserved last evening, and now she was blowing it way out of proportion.
But if she wanted to get a beating in addition to being kissed, he would oblige her.
For now, he sat in the command chair and started going through the sensor data from last night.
Seeing this, the two ladies in the command center shrugged and also got busy.
Both Aelita and Nairin knew that Andrew would not hurt Arien too much.
At most, she would have a few bruises, and since she was asking for it, they didn't mind having some entertainment during their day off.
Two hours later, Andrew was already waiting in their improvised ring, with all the ladies and some of the Adurians who wanted to see the duel lined up against the walls.
Additionally, there were cameras installed to allow the rest of Andrew's subordinates to watch the fight without coming there personally, as the module would not be able to accommodate so many people.
Andrew was standing in the middle, with only shorts on him and bare feet.
He wasn't worried about anything, as the floor was smooth and the droids cleaned the shit out of the module for the last two hours, making sure there was not a speck of dust in it not to mention a rock or anything that could hurt anyone's feet.
All the females in the territory were impressed by Andrew's muscular body, while some of the men were a bit jealous for the same reason.
Exactly on the dot of two hours passing, Arien entered the module and went straight to the middle, ignoring the audience.
She was calm, and her whole body emanated a cold aura.
For her, this was a duel, a fight to the death, and she was determined to be the victor and restore her dignity that Andrew had trampled over last evening.
No matter how much she liked the human, there were things she simply could not let slide as for her kind, their dignity and honor were the most important things in the universe.
She was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt; she was also barefoot and didn't have any protective gear on her.
There was no referee for this battle since it was a duel, and the only one between the two was Iliana, who had the first aid kit with her in case someone required medical treatment after the fight.
-Chip 08, deactivate.
Andrew said, releasing the chips' control over Ariwen and allowing her to fight him.
-Are you both ready?
Ilia asked.
They both nodded.
-Begin.
She said and retreated, leaving the two of them alone in the center of the module.
Arien didn't waste any time and immediately attacked with a series of kicks, which Andrew was able to dodge.
However, even if he was able to avoid being hit, the unrelenting attack left him also unable to attack, since he had to keep his distance.
This lasted for a few seconds, after which Arien changed her pattern of attack, seeing that she could not hit her opponent.
This caught Andrew off guard as, after another round of kicks, she jumped forward, and her fist connected with his ribs.
He groaned in pain, discovering that despite her smaller stature, she was quite strong and extremely fast.
The commodore tried to follow up on her successful attack, but Andrew managed to block her other fist before it connected with his jaw, making her retreat.
She never expected humans to be so sturdy.
If it was one of her kind who received such a punch, it would take them a while to recover.
Tought by experience, she tried the same trick for the second time, but it backfired spectacularly as when she jumped to punch him again, after a few series of kicks, he dodged.
She could feel that he grabbed her hand, and then her world spun like a roller coaster before she hit the floor with a thud and groaned in pain.
The pain was intense, making her unable to dodge or block the next attack, but it never came.
To her surprise, Andrew took a step back, allowing her to get up.
He did this out of courtesy, but she misunderstood it as him taking it easy and looking down on her.
Her blood boiled out of anger.
Ignoring the pain in her back, she got up and immediately attacked with all the fury that was storming inside her.
However, this time, Andrew didn't simply dodge her attacks; he blocked them and even attacked himself.
If Arien's attacks were like a raging thunderstorm, his were calm and precise, like a hunter stalking his prey.
As the fight dragged on, both fighters received their fair share of damage from their opponents, but to anyone watching, it was clear that Andrew could outlast Arinen, who was steadily getting tired with all the attacks he was unleashing, and the injuries she received from Andrew also didn't help.
The human, on the other hand, was as steady as at the beginning with the only sign of the effort he exerted being a slightly heavier breathing.
The commodore also noticed this difference in their endurance and was trying to come up with something that would give her the victory.
She knew that the longer this fight dragged on, the smaller her chances of victory would be, and eventually, she would be defeated because of her fatigue.
Taking all this into consideration, she decided to go for the kill, It was an all or nothing attack, she was taught and warned to only use when there was no other choice.
If it worked, she would win, but if it failed, she would be left open for her opponent's retaliation.
She quickly made up her mind and decided to use this move, hoping this would work as the only other option was to admit defeat.
Adien used all her remaining strength to gain momentum and jump, pushing off the floor with all her might and kicking with both her feet at the human, landing a perfect hit on his chest, sending him to the ground.
However, to her surprise, there was no crunching sound, which she had expected to hear when her feet connected with her opponent.
This move was a deadly one for her kind, but she had forgotten she was not fighting one of her own but a human.
They both fell to the ground, and Arien was the first to get to her feet as her attack had squeezed the air from Andrew's lungs.
Hearing him trying to catch his breath, she was hoping that this was the end, but to her terror, the human did catch his breath within a few seconds and started to get up.
This time, however, his aura changed, and when she saw his eyes the moment he looked at her, she was terrified.
He no longer looked at her as an opponent but as a pray; there was nothing calm in his gaze, it was like he transformed into a wild beast and his only goal at the moment was to tear his prey apart.
This time, when Andrew closed the distance between them, he didn't bother dodging her desperate attacks; he blocked them all or simply let them land, fueling his rage.
He was convinced that this duel was to be decided by incapacitating the opponent, but this last attack would be fatal if his body was not sturdy enough to withstand it.
It was at that time that he got pissed and decided this elf needed a lesson on why she should never piss him off.
More than that, he was done playing around and wanted to end this as soon as possible.
Seeing that her attacks were ineffective and the human was still approaching, Arien wanted to keep him at a distance and try to tire him out as she was sure that her last attack must have done a lot of damage to him, however she never got that chance as the next time she tried tu punch him in the gut, he caught her hand in an iron grip and twisted it making her groan in pain.
This, however, was nothing compared to his fist hitting her right in the gut, making her bend forward as the force of this strike almost made her puke.
She never got the chance to catch her balance again as a powerful hand caught her by the throat, rised her up, unable to breathe in its crushing grip, and before she knew what was going on, she was brutally slammed into the floor.
The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was a terrible pain and then the darkness claimed her.