In a Sticky Spot

"" is the fourth episode of Vagrant Queen. It premiered on April 17, 2020.

Synopsis
A stealth mission through the Republic border becomes a fight for survival as Lazaro closes in.

Recap
lida and company, along with the monarchists, are onboard Peggy planning their stealth extraction mission from Port Station 233 using Clive's freighter to get through customs. They breach the forcefield, and Elida, Hath, Isaac, and Amae spread out to take out the guards and find Xevelyn. Meanwhile, Dengar, Krob and Ihred act as Clive's mules to smuggle some intergalactic contraband through the checkpoint.

Team Elida have to hack their way through a door successfully, before a robot vacuum moonlighting as a security guard alerts the system to their presence. They're quickly set upon by armed security guards, and Isaac gets taken prisoner. They split up: Hath and Elida search the premises while Amae goes looking for a power console to manipulate energy sources throughout the ship.

Isaac gets taken into interrogation by none other than Lazaro, who takes extra pleasure grinding some non-answers out of him. Lazo also shuts down any transit in or out of the station, and consequently movement through customs gets gummed up. Coordinating with Amae, Hath and Elida brave several armed guards on their journey to find Isaac. When they get to his holding cell, they find him dazed on the floor, badly beaten and bloody.

Hath and Elida prop Isaac up and carry him through the hallways when more security forces fall on them. Elida orders Hath to take Isaac while she fends off the assailants. They join up in the waiting room just after the customs checkpoint where, go figure, Dengar, Krob, and Ihred are twiddling their thumbs waiting for next steps. While all that's going on, Lazaro catches up with Clive while he's fumbling for some pocket change to feed the vending machine and blows a hole in his chest — that's the penalty for collaborating with the monarchy.

There's a spectacular firefight while Amae hops aboard Peggy to fly her just in time. The team trundle into an elevator, whose doors are pried and held open by Ihred with the help of some superhuman body armor. She ends up sacrificing herself to the guards so that the others may escape. They board Peggy, and Amae shoots them into Republic Space, and, hence, safety… for now. That is until they run into a veritable minefield of asteroid jetsam, which damages the hull. The ship goes into a freefall, and lands on a distant, sandy planet.