Full Hand

Grey's finger slowly tightened around the trigger, his sights dead-centre on the Captain's head. Efyriks was out in the open, completely exposed, and now inspecting his crew (by way of beating a Dreg who was probably underperforming).

Perhaps the Captain didn't think there'd be any Guardians around. After all, few of them actually went to Old Chicago. Most seemed to prefer hanging around the European Dead Zone, likely because it was far more strategically important to just about everyone.

The Hunter inhaled slowly. This was what he'd been waiting the better part of a week for. Once he'd taken out Efyriks there'd be no real need to tussle with the rest of them. With the death of their Captain, a Fallen crew would typically scatter and then fight each other to claim the position of its next Captain, so that'd keep them busy for a while. Then the process would repeat, and Grey would get paid, every time.

Then all of a sudden, a blinding white flash appeared right in front of the Captain, and where Grey was aiming. The Hunter reeled back from the suddenly flash, his visor doing nothing to shield his eyes. He could see the glow from his perch.

"What the hell?" He cried in alarm. "What is that?"

His Ghost seemed equally alarmed. "Is that a Taken portal?" He asked in shock. "No, can't be. There aren't any Taken this side of town, and the readings don't match."

Grey shook his head and peered down the sights again. The glow was beginning to die down, and suddenly, it stopped. There was a shape on the ground, surrounded by equally-confused Fallen.

Then it moved, and Grey realised that it seemed to be a human female, young, maybe a few years younger than he was (his physical age, not his actual age). She slowly got up, looking awfully disoriented.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Grey asked, completely confounded for once.

"Transmat error?" Saratoga suggested.

"She don't look like she's from around here, or the City," Grey noted, continuing to watch the scene unfold. The Fallen around her finally seemed to snap out of it, drawing their weapons and aiming it at her. Efyriks gave a low grow, bringing his weapon to bear. The four barrels of his Molten Welder glowed red hot with Solar energy.

"Aw, hell," Grey muttered. "I think the bounty can wait."

"You said it, Grey."

The Hunter switched targets, lining up his sights to a Vandal and pulling the trigger.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Corrin had no idea what the hell was happening.

She was surrounded by these four armed monstrosities, several of them leveling what she assumed to be weapons at her. Eyes wide she brought her hands up in some vain attempt to protect herself.

Then, a thundercrack. The head of one of the monsters promptly disappeared. Corrin stared wide eyed as a ghostly mist seemed to leave its body as it crumpled to the dirt beneath. She forced herself to take a breath as its weapon clattered to the ground.

Now's not the time to be panicking, Corrin. Deep breaths.

Confusion and panic immediately erupted within the crowd, scattering as they attempted to find their unseen attacker. She kept hearing those loud bangs, and with each, one of the monsters fell.

Corrin used the time to try and slip away, she spotted several large, seemingly empty shells she assumed were once buildings, though not any kind she was familiar with.

Whatever was picking these things off was skilled, because even with the monsters scrambling it continued to get off clean hits. One monster leveled a weapon at her, only to have its head dissipate as well.

It was here that the apparent leader barked at its brigade, and following its lead Corrin could make out a glowing point in the distance. She didn't know what it was, but the monsters seemed to. They began to fire wildly, their weapons arcing with energy the likes of which Corrin had never seen before.

They were shooting at a moving target. She couldn't make it out well but occasionally there was a bright flash of light before another monster dropped dead.

What sort of weapon could cause that much damage, and from so far away?

She couldn't help but stare at the display, at least until she sensed a figure coming up behind her. She whipped around just in time to watch another monster drop dead.

This one held two much much more promising weapons.

"A sword?" She hesitantly pried one of the fallen creature's weapons from its claws. It certainly looked like a sword, though it crackled with a strange blue energy and resembled one a pirate would wield.

It felt off from her Yato, however. For starters, it lacked the double sided blade and some length.

Still, it was nice not to be defenseless.

She turned to face the remaining horde just in time for their apparent leader to huff, and head inside one of the buildings, accompanied by several of what she assumed to be its elite guard.

"Hey!" She got to her feet, somewhat unsteadily wielding the sword she'd scavenged. Her outburst caught the attention of a two-armed monster, who turned to face the otherworldly woman as she took a few hesitant steps forward.

It let out a low chuckle as the princess advanced, obviously seeing her as an easy kill. It raised its double-barrelled weapon that glowed with that strange blue light Corrin had spotted coming from the other weapons.

However, before it could get a shot off, the princess dove forward and rolled, low to the ground she spun, slicing the sword through the monster's legs. It let out a yelp as it fell, Corrin quickly, and somewhat awkwardly brought the blade down through it's head.

There was a slight sizzling sound, and the smell of something burning met her nostrils. She gagged as she felt her stomach twist.

More of the things were being taken out by the strange, rooftop running figure.

Corrin hoped they proved to be an ally, maybe they could tell her just what was going on.

————————————————————————————————————————————

The Hunter continued sprinting forwards, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he took occasional shots at the Fallen congregation that was becoming increasingly clear. Most of the Fallen were taking cover behind some debris and within the husks of the buildings, while Vandal snipers perched on the roofs. He grunted as he was struck by a well-aimed Wire Rifle shot, his shields draining by a fifth. The offending Vandal was a few buildings away.

Gritting his teeth, he charged forwards and leapt off the roof. There was a wide gap between the building in front of him, the main road scattered with the overgrown wrecks of cars separating the two. He'd gained ground, and midair, he looked down the scope and fired. A well-placed headshot removed the Vandal immediately, its corpse plummeting off the edge and towards the ground below.

He was still in the air, and was now beginning to fall. He clenched his fist and then vanished in a flash of light, reappearing just a foot shy or so of the edge of the opposite building. Forward momentum finished the job, however, and he clasped the edge, bringing himself up.

A trio of Shanks floated up in front of him, the robotic constructs opening fire with their Arc guns. Grey nimbly twirled out of the way, bringing his hand cannon Austringer to bear. It was decorated with the Broken Bird, to Be Healed Ornament.

He fired three times in a row, each time at another Shank, and each time, one of them erupted into a fireball and a rain of scrap metal. He spun his hand cannon, loading a new magazine into the cylinder. The majority of the Fallen were down below, Efyriks in the building directly opposite.

Picking up speed, Grey sprinted forwards, to the edge, and then he leapt forwards. He figure soared through the air, his cape blowing behind him as Arc bolts streaked all around him. He swapped to the Prospector Exotic grenade launcher and pulled the trigger.

A rapid-fire rain of Arc grenades was fired out of the barrel, tearing through clustered groups of Dregs. He switched back to his hand cannon as he fell, firing several more times at the enemies below, before landing on his feet, right in front of the mystery girl.

She yelped as he did. Grey noticed that she was holding a Shock Blade in her hands, and there was a dead Dreg in front of her. The Hunter rose a brow. "Know how to use that thing?" He asked, looking over his shoulder.

The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment, her grip tightening on the pillaged blade. "A sword is a sword, no matter what world it comes from," she replied, a little unevenly. "I can fight."

Grey gave a grunt at that. "Good,"

A nearby car suddenly erupted into a purple and orange fireball. Grey whirled back around to see what could only be described as a large, glowing purple mechanical eyeball floated towards them, accompanied by several more Dregs. It projected a shield of pure Ether onto the nearby Fallen, rendering them immune to damage.

"Servitor," Grey said simply. The construct forged in the Traveler's image gave a low and distorted mechanical screech, and then fired a powerful blast of Void energy from its eye. The Hunter pushed the girl out of the way of the blast as he dodged to the side before it could hit. The Void blast struck the empty ground they once were and then exploded, leaving a scorching crater of glowing purple Void energy in its wake.

Grey furrowed his brows. Without missing a beat, he dashed forwards, firing Austringer at the machine, hitting the middle of its eye, its weak point. It seemed to screech in pain as the rounds struck.

Suddenly, it vanished, reappearing a short distance away and firing another blast as it did. Grey was prepared, of course, nimbly rolling out of the way. Getting back to his feet, he tossed an Explosive Knife at it, the blade burrowing itself in the machine's eye.

After a second, it exploded, the Servitor reeling back from the blast. The machine wasn't done yet, however. Despite its damage, it continued to function. It began to retreat, its supporting Dregs advancing instead. Grey knew that there was no way of damaging them until the Servitor was destroyed, and that was what he intended to do. He dashed forwards, ignoring the Dregs altogether, and jumped into the air, over their heads.

Then, he Blinked away.

He reappeared right behind the Servitor and drew his sword Quickfang. Whirling around, he made a blindingly fast series of slashes thanks to its Lightweight Frame. The machine succumbed to his attacks, burning up from within and then exploding. The Dregs around it were caught in the explosion as their shields disappeared.

The other Fallen wisely decided to retreat back into the building.

Grey twirled Quickfang and then sheathed it, drawing his hand cannon. "Follow me," He told the girl. "That bounty's mine."

————————————————————————————————————————————

Corrin had questions.

So. Many. Questions.

Where was she, how had she come to be here? What were these things, how did they vanish and reappear?

She took a deep breath and, somewhat hesitantly lowered her blade as the stranger addressed her. "I realise a battlefield is no place for such questions but..." She spoke carefully, gesturing to the fallen monsters around her. "Who are you, what are these things?"

She took a hesitant step forward, her gaze was apprehensive, and maybe just a tad bit curious. "And who are you?"

The stranger merely looked over his shoulder. She couldn't see his expression from underneath that faceless helm of his that had a slit visor, but it was clear that he was studying her. Finally, he spoke.

"The name's Grey," he said simply. "I'm a Hunter. Those are the Fallen."

Her saviour's answers left a lot to be desired. Corrin had no idea what these Fallen were, or why they were attacking. Nor did she know what Grey meant by calling himself a hunter. However, he too seemed to understand.

He stopped and turned to her. "Look, you ain't from around here, I get it. I'll answer your questions later," he gestured over to the Shock Blade in her hand. "If you know how to use that thing, good for you. Just don't get in my way."

Corrin felt her grip tighten around the sword at his dismissal. "I'll take care not to disturb you," She replied somewhat icily.

Satisfied, Grey turned around and headed inside the office building, Corrin following closely behind. Remnants of the Golden Age were strewn around, old posters and paintings still hanging on the walls, faded and covered in a layer of grime. Fallen tech filled the empty space.

"Efyriks' on the top floor," Saratoga stated through their mental link. "I'd recommend using those elevators over there."

Grey nodded and made his way over to the lift lobby. Most of the doors were shut, one was halfway open and leaked water, while the last one was fully open. There was a small tree growing within, nurtured by an electric light that flickered on and off.

Grey held out his hand. "Toga, can you get it working?"

Corrin tilted her head in confusion as he seemed to speak to thin air. However, a second later, a tiny construct that resembled a glowing eye within an oak barrel appeared in his palm, floating over to a panel with a pair of buttons. It seemed to project a blue beam of light onto it.

"Elevators haven't been functional in centuries," The Ghost said. "I can make it work, but it'll take a while."

"Stairs?" Grey asked.

"Most of the entrances are blocked off, and it'll take too long, anyway. Efyriks ain't gonna expect this."

There was a screech from behind them, and Grey turned to see Fallen incoming.

"Keep them off me while I work!" Saratoga told him.

"Got it," the Hunter nodded, and turned to Corrin. She seemed poised to react, but he beat her to it. "This won't take long."

With that, he vaulted into the fray, snapping up Austringer and dropping targets with inhuman accuracy. He nimbly dodged and weaved through enemy fire as the Fallen frantically attempted to take him down.

He fan-fired Austringer at blinding speed, and several Shanks erupted into fireballs as they were struck by the hand cannon rounds. The Hunter twirled out of the way of a Vandal's Wire Rifle shot, reloading his weapon as he performed a Marksman's Dodge. He snapped up his gun and fired, the Vandal dropping to the floor.

"How much longer?" He asked his Ghost.

"Gimme about thirty seconds!" Saratoga replied, continuing his work.

"Hurry up!" Grey reached behind him and pulled out an odd sort of black and red octahedron, and tossed it towards the Fallen. Upon contact with the ground, it split open into a swarm of tiny, glowing drones. They hung in the air for a moment. Then, once they had locked on to their target, each of them homed in on to an unlucky Fallen and detonated.

Corrin watched as he dodged and weaved between enemies. It was almost inhuman.

She was honestly impressed, but not so much so she was defenseless. There was movement behind her, and she whirled around. Her eyes widened as she saw a monster right behind her.

This one had four arms, two of which grasped a pair of blades similar to the one she'd picked up, while its lower arms seemed to have a pair of curved blades mounted to them. It was wearing a purple cloak and hood, and seemed to have eight eyes that glowed blue.

How it had managed to get so close undetected was beyond her. With a low growl, it slashed with its sword. Corrin raised her blade to parry the attack. Their blades met, and she grit her teeth. The monster was obviously a lot stronger than she was, and she felt her grip loosen.

She grunted, pushing back.

Now wasn't the time to panic. Be on your guard, and do not fall!

Corrin could almost hear Xander's voice at her side as she pushed back against the alien. She would not be an easy kill for this or any other beast.

The monster screeched as it was pushed back. It took a step back, hissing. It circled her, Corrin standing her guard. Then it surged forwards again, this time slashing with its wrist blades. Corrin was forced into a defensive position as she dodged and deflected each and ever blow.

As she continued to parry and dodge its slashes, she realised that it was wearing a face-concealing mask. She wouldn't be able to read its intentions through its facial expressions. She grunted, recalling a trick she'd learned from watching her brother's battle.

Learn to anticipate your opponent's moves, and shut them down. If you can't do that, then try and take them by surprise.

Out of the corner of her eye, Corrin spotted a large pile of rubble. The enemy was pushing her toward it, and she couldn't remain on the defensive forever.

Dodging backward as a swipe narrowly missed, Corrin darted toward the pile and nimbly she jumped up on it, grabbing some debris as she did she whirled and tossed it at the four-armed monster. It deflected a piece of rubble thrown towards it with its blade, and then another.

All just a distraction, however.

Corrin leapt off the rubble and brought down her blade, separating the Fallen's lower left arm from its body. She smelled that same sickening burn as it screeched in pain, mist leaking from its stump. She felt a small twinge of pride at her success.

Unfortunately, she hadn't thought much further ahead.

The monster slashed wildly with its remaining arms, so wild and furious that Corrin had trouble countering them all. Not that it would have mattered, though. It followed up by kicking her square in the chest with a two-clawed foot.

Corrin felt the wind get knocked out of her lungs as she hit the floor, her sword getting knocked out of her hands. Stunned, she lay there, only to rapidly scramble backwards as the monster loomed over her.

"Sloat za dis ra sha!" It hissed in its native language, advancing on her and raising its blades. Corrin raised her arms in front of her in a desperate attempt to shield herself.

Just before it could finish the job, however, there was the crack of a hand cannon, followed by the Marauder's lifeless body falling to the ground.

She turned to see Grey was standing there, his weapon raised and smoking. He turned back around to fire on the remaining Fallen.

The elevator dinged, sounding very distorted. The doors opened a second later with a rusted screech as the light flickered. "Elevator's here, guys!" Saratoga cried.

Grey nodded, retreating towards it. "Come on, let's go!" He said, fan-firing the last of his hand cannon's ammo as he rushed to the elevator and helping the Corrin to her feet along the way. Dazed, she followed, darting towards it.

She stopped just outside, eyes widening and focused on a skeleton lying within the elevator, stuck in a crawling position. Whoever it belonged to had obviously died trapped inside, attempting to pry the doors open.

Grey, meanwhile, was completely unfazed, stepping inside. Corrin gasped as he casually nudged it to the side and out of the way with his foot with no respect whatsoever.

"W—why is there a skeleton in here?" Corrin stuttered, eyes glued on the bones.

Her companion looked at her oddly. "This city's been abandoned for centuries. Many people died here during the Collapse five hundred years ago, including—" Grey the bones with a boot to make a point. "—this guy."

Corrin couldn't believe her ears. Abandoned for centuries? This entire world had fallen to some sort of cataclysm. That was a lot of information to take in at once, and it was more than a little overwhelming. She took a breath and stepped inside, the doors closing a second or so after she did.

She tried to calm her nerves at the prospect of getting into an enclosed metal box with a skeleton, trying not to think about how whoever the skeleton had belonged to had died.

Said nerves did not calm as the box suddenly lurched upwards. Corrin stumbled, trying to regain her balance.

"I… how is this thing working?" She asked, looking to Grey, eyes wide with confusion and mild fear. "Is it going to fall, and will we wind up like that?" She pointed to the skeleton.

"Relax, kid," Grey's little spirit reassured her, floating over to Corrin. "This elevator ain't gonna fall. I've made sure of it."

The Hunter scoffed. "Ain't that exactly what you said to me when that actually happened some years back? That really hurt, you know."

The Ghost turned back to him and gave him a rather scathing look. "If I remember quickly, you insisted on getting on it."

"I also remember you telling me that the cables were gonna hold."

Groaning, Saratoga turned back to Corrin. "Ignore him. He's like that."

Corrin couldn't help but feel that the back-and-forth between Grey and his strange spirit was somewhat… calming. It reminded her of her family, Leo and Camilla often exchanged barbs like that. Though their words didn't exactly reassure her.

She took a shaky breath. "I... right. I'll try not and hold you back."

The Hunter only grunted. "Where is he, anyway?" Grey asked.

"Twenty-eighth floor," Saratoga replied. "That's the top floor."

"Right... can you make this thing go any faster?"

"Hey, the pulley system's got hundreds of years worth of corrosion and rust on it. Just getting it working again was hard enough," his Ghost told him, and Grey could almost see him crossing his arms if he had any.

That little bit of information did nothing to make Corrin feel any better. Reaching up, she wrapped her hand around the pendent she wore around her neck. The glittering blue jewel was cool to the touch, and helped to calm the princess.

Grey rolled his eyes, spinning his gun and loading in a new magazine. "Okay, I get it," he huffed.

The elevator stuttered to a stop a few seconds later, giving another ding as the doors opened. "Come on, kid," he told Corrin as he stepped out of the elevator. She tightened her grip on her weapon and followed behind. Now wasn't the time to be devolving into a fit of nerves.

"Efyriks' on this floor," Grey told her, making his way through the lobby. "He ain't gonna be expecting—" He rounded a corner and then came face to face with maybe three dozen or more Fallen occupying the abandoned office, all turning to stare at the two of them.

For a moment, no one spoke, no one moved, no one even reacted.

"...Oh," Corrin muttered.

Then Fallen all promptly opened fire, bright blue Arc bolts streaking towards them. Grey immediately returned fire with Austringer, before dashing into cover behind the safety of a wall.

"So much for that idea," he muttered in annoyance, turning to Corrin. "Listen, kid. Here's the plan: Stay behind me and don't get shot."

Corrin swallowed. "O—okay."

She didn't know if she could, honestly, but there was only one way of knowing. That was enough for the Hunter, it seemed, as he bolted out of cover, opening fire with his hand cannon as he advanced forward.

The princess followed behind him, doing her best to stick close to the Hunter, weapon drawn and held in a defensive position. Not getting shot was easier than done, however. She lacked the advanced armour Grey had, plus she wasn't accustomed to these weapons. However, the energy blasts weren't unlike enemy spells, thinking of them in that light helped her to acclimate.

She could block spells with her sword back home, but she wasn't quite as sure here. She did her best to parry or block any projectiles that made it past the Hunter, though. Grey was doing a good enough job shielding her from the projectiles, though it was clear that even he had his limits.

Occasionally, one of the smaller Fallen with two arms managed to sneak past in an attempt to attack her instead. Those that got too close earned a swipe to the head or neck as she did her best to keep up.

For his part, Grey was advancing forwards with ruthless efficiency, firing his hand cannon. With every shot, a Fallen went down. He weaved in between incoming fire, dashing into cover and reloading.

He tried his best to cover Corrin, but protecting someone who pretty much accounted to a civilian who couldn't fire back was something quite unfamiliar to him. Grey was no Titan of the Pilgrim Guard. Being a Hunter meant being a lone wolf, someone who didn't rely on anyone but his blade and gun.

He snapped up his gun and fired off a volley of shots, downing a pair of Vandals. He spun around, dodging out of the way of a Wretch's Arc Spear. Unsheathing his knife, he stabbed it in the side of its neck. The glow in its eyes slowly faded as it died, Ether flowing out of the wound.

Turning back around, he pulled out an incendiary grenade, tossing it forwards. It bounced off a pillar and then detonated right in the middle of a group of Fallen. They were all consumed by the flame, disintegrating from the Solar energy. A Servitor emerged from the flames, supported by several Vandals.

Grey rolled out of the way of the machine's Void blast, before swapping to Borealis. He loaded in a fresh magazine of Void rounds, pulling back on the bolt and chambering in a round. He sprung out of cover and fired. The first shot struck it right in the eye, and it reeled back. Then came several more shots, finishing it off. He swapped back to Austringer and dropped the surviving Vandals.

The more she watched, the more she realised that grey was a warrior unlike any Corrin had ever seen. He was agile, mobile, and deadly efficient. Honestly she was reminded of Kaze or Kagero, both of who specialised in darting around the battlefield. Of course neither of the ninjas packed the literal fire power of Grey's weapons.

Her sword kept the few monsters who got close at bay, but Grey was literally slaughtering the rest. He was switching between weapons faster than Corrin could follow and the blasts of his strange weapons. She tried not to wince at each blast but they seemed to catch her off guard.

As she looked up, she noticed that Grey seemed to be staring at her. She wondered what he was thinking about. Was she doing well enough? Was he thinking that she was holding her back?

"To your left!" Saratoga cried suddenly, interrupting her train of thought.

Corrin instinctively rolled to the side, with Grey doing the same. However, he didn't seem to be fast enough, as he was struck by several glowing orange blasts, knocking him backwards.

What seemed to be a barrier of light around his body flared and flickered as he stumbled back to his feet. Amazingly, he didn't seem to be wounded at all. She had no idea how he had managed to take that blast and come out unscathed.

"You okay?" His Ghost asked.

"Never been better," Grey muttered, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears.

In front of him was Efyriks, and by his side were multiple Reaver Vandals armed with Shrapnel Launchers. The Fallen Captain gave a low grow as he levelled his weapon at him.

Grey simply stood, calmly reloading his gun. "Well, well, well, 'bout time you showed your ugly mug. There's a bounty on your head, you know? A bounty that I'm here..." he snapped Austinger's cylinder into place and raised his gun. "...To collect."

The Captain growled loudly, and then fired.