It was a trap. Gondo immediately summoned his Astral Blade. The ghost in front of him and it’s armada loomed menacingly.

  “Looks like there’s gonna be a showdown,” he said to his team back in the Sunsword.

  Lowell came in quickly over the comms, “Should we pull you out? Just say the word.”

  “No, leave me in. I’m tired of running,” Gondo said.

  The figure in front of him was glowing a bright red. It’s eyes were pink and pupilless.

  “Kruger sends his regards,” the wraith spoke. It’s arms were transformed into two large spears. All at once the armada unloaded on Rockman, and the wraith engaged.

  Rockman was blown to bits by a cascade of ranged attacks. He reformed before the second salvo arrived.

  The two astral forms clashed, the wraith leading with it’s twin spears. Gondo deflected the first spear and spun around the second, raising his fist over his shoulder to smash the wraith in the face. Where his blade and fist made contact he felt the impact.

  The wraith reformed his arms, and with cat-like agility he reached up and performed a motion to snap Gondo’s neck. It happened so fast.

  Luckily, Gondo didn’t have a spinal column in this form or he would be dead.

  They both seemed surprised by the action. Gondo used this split second to disengage.

  Repeated onslaughts from the armada were decimating Rockman over and over, only to have his crystals reform again and again. Gondo wasn’t sure how long the being could hold up this way.

  He quickly assessed his opponent during the brief reprieve.

  The wraith was incredibly fast, ferocious and seemed single minded on his destruction. He could also sense from the severity of it’s attacks that it was strong. Gondo surmised the wraith had consumed more Moonshield than even he had. But how?

  That was a question for another time. The red wraith was rushing towards him, one arm formed into a long bearded axe, it’s head curving wickedly. The other hand formed into a crude shield.

  He was able to construct different weapons with his form. Who was this guy?

  When Gondo attempted to block the long swipe of the axe with his sword the wraith moved the shield to intercept. The Astral Blade clanged uselessly off of it.

  The head of the axe came down just in front of Gondo’s face, slicing him from cheekbone to chin.

  Pain exploded across his astral body.

  “Gondo you’re bleeding!” Lowell said over the comms. What? His corporeal form was being effected by the attack? This was getting risky. Still, he wasn’t ready to retreat.

  The pair continued exchanging blows, Gondo now focused on the defense. He remembered back to his combat courses at the Academy, thinking he would never need the semester focused on medieval weaponry. How wrong he was.

  The wraith’s brutal assault continued unabated. Gondo knew he was outmatched physically. This creature of violence was single minded on his destruction. But that was something he could use.

  A flurry of blows came from the wraith, weapons switching in between strikes. Now a poleaxe, now an epee. Gondo narrowly ducked a swing from a viscously spiked morning star.

  He was being driven back by the repeated attacks. The solemn intent gaze of the wraith never faltered.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It formed one arm into a massive war-hammer. The size of it was so great that it seemed to have consumed all the astral mass of it’s right arm. The wraith hefted it and bent into position to strike. As it engaged, Gondo imagined his astral body directly behind the wraith, and he was there.

  He drew the Astral Blade in an overhand slice across the stalk of the hammer. The Blade passed through easily and Gondo felt an odd sensation of delight pass through his body. The section that was separated began disappearing in small, quick chunks. Gondo remembered the mouthed tentacles from Calcio’s last Cast. Had that actually been a dream?

  The Red Wraith screamed in pain, anger, frustration. Gondo couldn’t tell which.

  “Send a message to your master,” Gondo said. “He may have dominion in the City, but in Space the power is mine.”

  He then plunged his Astral Blade through the back of the hunched form of the wraith. It arched in pain. Then, in a flash, it’s silver cord retracted and the creature was dragged with it, screaming, disappearing into the dark fathoms of the galaxy.

  Gondo released his blade and raised his fists, looking over at Rockman. Despite the numerous explosions the being had suffered, he still looked ok.

  “Alright buddy, your turn,” Gondo said, nodding to the crystal man. Rockman nodded back.

  They turned to the armada. Once again Gondo imagined himself floating directly outside of the nearest destroyer and suddenly, Rockman and he were there. He reached into it, his astral hands fading into the metal, while Rockman’s mitts tore into the machine. He reached further in, grasped, and then tore up and out. Rockman’s hands erupted from the hull, scattering sparks and machinery in a floating cloud.

  Gondo let out an unhinged cackle, lifting his head back and chortling. Soundlessly, Rockman did the same.

  They quickly flew through the destroyer, separating it in two. Then off to the next ship in the armada. They peeled back the entire front portion of the craft then grabbed it. Spinning in a circle they launched it towards the nearest destroyer, which blasted the ship apart with a well timed railgun shot.

  The ships never stopped attacking as the duo stalked amongst them, teleporting and ripping them to shreds. Their fire would destroy Rockman, only to have him form up again. After a short blissful engagement, the enemy was decimated.

  “Alright,” Gondo said, breathing heavily. “You can pull me out now.”

  …

  Gondo awoke in the Sunsword, his friends hovering over him. He felt pain in his face, and reached up to feel stitches across his cheek.

  “That Crimson Ghost opened you up old friend,” Igansius said. “We patched you as quickly as we could, but we were worried you might have incurred some internal damage. Luckily, seems to be only a flesh wound.”

  Rockman was looking down at him. Gondo raised his hand and delivered a fist bump, greeted by the Crystal Fist.

  “Nice work out there,” he said. Was that a sparkle amidst Rockman’s crystals he saw?

  Lowell put a hand on Gondo’s shoulder. “Let’s get you rested up, then we have some work to do. Somehow, it seems the Moonshield has fallen into enemy hands.”