A spaceman moved forward; Blackstone sidestepped the deathly swing of its glowing arm.

Behind the warrior, he could hear the whine of the hit squad weapons preparing to fire; he could feel their plasma-fueled heat.

His battlefield wisdom and instincts taking control, Blackstone spun around the alien he held and allowed the creature to take the blasts meant for him. As he had hoped, the green energy penetrated the shielding - the extraterrestrial made a horrid squealing sound as it died. Shifting position, Blackstone held the dead alien now as a weapon and aimed its arm-cannon at the others. Through pressure on the corpse, the horned man was able to initiate the dead being's body to fire the weapon.

The green blast melted through one creature's shielding. Blackstone saw gray, mottled skin showing through as the armor disintegrated and very quickly the skin along with it.

Despite his size, Blackstone moved quickly, closing the distance between himself and his attackers. As another one attempted to fire its weapon, he hurled a dead enemy with all of his strength. The shielding did not blunt the force as both technologies canceled one another out. Both aliens crashed against the marble wall, both were now dead.

Blackstone leapt onto the last two aliens and lifted them up swiftly and slammed them together. Green blood spurted over the horned man's armor. He dropped the would-be assassins to the ground.

Large dark eyes stared up at him through broken helmets still full of otherworldly atmosphere.

Questions nagged at the warrior and he would have answers.

Blackstone tore an alien's armor open and began to access its internal memory.

Suddenly, everything made sense to the horned warrior.

#

Cassia stood, fully armored, fully healed on the battlefield that was the front of her castle.

There had been another attack.

This time, the conflict saw not another invasion of alien ships but an approach by a larger craft with two escorts. It seemed to be more of a diplomatic outreach.

And it ended in blood - green blood.

Cassia the Spice Queen stood victorious over the smoldering shattered armor - a larger suit almost mech like - which housed the leader of this particular alien collective. Even as the suit began to disintegrate, the dead gray body could be seen.

The battered royal guard of Omani stood and roared in victory as their queen declared an end to the conflicts.

Even in celebration, Haze looked around for the absent Blackstone.