AN: Sorry this took as long as it did. I really don't have an excuse.
In response to the guest review proclaiming a desire for a Tv-Tropes page, while I'm extremely honored you consider my story good (or awful) enough to get a Tv-Tropes, I'd prefer earning a spot on the Tv-Tropes Fanfic Recs Page before any of that. That's the goal I'm aiming for right now.
The Courier pulled the knife out of the legionnaire's throat in a quick motion, causing the blood coursing throughout his body to spray out violently for a second, covering his helmet in the crimson fluid as the man fell to the ground. The legionnaire writhed in pain, vainly attempting to stop the flowing of blood before drifting into the unconsciousness that came before death. Stepping forward, the Courier wiped the red slush off of his visor, never looking away from the man who stood at the top of the hill. He felt the eyes of a dozen slaves following him as he stepped further up towards the fur-armored man, whose face contorted in rage. Behind him lay the corpses, and soon-to-be corpses, of the many men that stood in his way as he made his way towards their leader.
"Dammit all-kill him!" Caesar growled, the Praetorian guards around him charging forward towards the man who dared wear the armor of their ancient foe. "I want him on a cross!"
The blood soaked man simply steeped back as he pulled his gauss rifle from its holster on his back. Blinking once at the last of the Praetorians stepped past the two meter radius of the teenage slave girl hiding behind one of the sheet metal walls that made up the Legion's main, he brought up the rifle, so that it was aimed directly at the head of the lead praetorian, and fired. Green explosions rocked the hill to the east of the scrap-walled arena sitting under Caesar's main tent, causing the slaves to back up in fear. The Courier stepped forward only to be launched backwards by the still very alive praetorian commander, the smoking plasma burns covering his face emphasizing his fury.
After landing on his back, the Courier opened his eyes and watched as the commander screamed, jumping into the air with the zeal of a man with nothing to lose, aiming his right arm, the ballistic fist clear as the smell of blood around him, the shotgun shells creating a cloud of dust as they hit the ground. Pushing off to the right the Courier dodged the man's brutal haymaker, dropping his rifle in the process, and threw himself upwards with the momentum. Slipping his right hand into his duster's inner pocket, he felt the wire grip of the strings connecting the dog tags of the homemade knuckle dusters he found in Cottonwood Cove. Gripping the small bar holding the dog tags in place hard enough that he felt bruises forming on his palm, the Courier hunched forward, stepping with his left foot and fist forward while keeping his right arm closer to the side of his head.
Blinking once, the Courier watched as the man stood back up and faced him, his eyes wide and burning with absolute fury. The praetorian entered a semi-crouching boxing position and began circling around the courier just within a meter and a half. The two began circling each other their fists never raised anywhere but each other, and never stepping towards or away from each other. The last praetorian in the legion continued to glare and growl hatefully, while the Courier, the names of fallen soldiers in his right fist watched through the green lenses of his helmet with quiet fury.
The praetorian charged.
"So," Cu spoke up, interrupting the Courier's memory. Looking over towards his friend, the Courier watched as he fiddled around with what he called Recompense of the Fallen. "Ya' just found this in some random buildin'?"
Chapter 10: The Darkness that Covers the Light
"Yeah," the Courier replied as he watched the sky dim further, the bright blue sky turning shades of dim amber and purple as the sun fell below the sandy horizon. He sighed as his gaze turned to the myriad streets below, wincing and shuddering at the height of the apartment building they stood upon. Countless people and vehicles passed the sand colored building they stood upon, moving about like the pictures of pre-war ants he saw once. The calamity of yelling, horns and engines sounded muffled from the top of the concrete structure, allowing the two to converse as they watched the sun dip below the horizon.
"Who makes brass knuckles out of Dog-tags?" Cu spoke up as he threw the knuckle-dusters back to the Courier, who caught them before they collided with his face. He pocketed them inside the brown duster covering his armor, brushing off some sand from inside one of the armor's crevices. "Morbid, don't ya' think? I mean, they buried them right? They didn't jus'... ya' know... throw 'em in a ditch, did they?"
The Courier shook his head, "Dunno. The building was under the control of a rather... infamous group from where I'm from. The tags belonged to some military group opposing them." He shook his head at his technical truth.
"Oh," Cu said, his ears perking up. "What's this group called?"
"Caesar's Legion," the Courier said, grimacing at its sound.
"See-zar? I always thought it was kai-zar," Cu said, a confused expression plastered on his face. The Courier simply chuckled to himself, to the young faunus's confusion.
"Sorry, but I didn't respect him enough to get his name right," the Courier said with a chuckle.
"By the First," Cu said, laughing, looking at the Courier with his lightish gray eyes, the exact color still eluding the young wastelander. "What could they have done to earn your disrespect of all things? I didn't think you were the type."
The Courier frowned and looked past his partner, and replied, "Much the same as the men we're hunting tonight. You'll probably get a good idea of their practices tonight."
Cu grimaced and lied down on the roof of the building. "Geez. I thought that crap only happened in the land of pagodas and criminals."
"Where?" the Courier asked in confusion.
"You know? Mistral?" Cu said looking at the Courier. Getting a nod in return, he continued. "Mistral's the land of pagodas and criminals, just like Atlas is the land of high tech and arseholes."
"If you don't mind me asking, why criminals?" He replied, taking his eyes off the Streets for a moment to look at his friend.
Cu hummed in contemplation. "Hmm. Forgot that wasn't somethin' they teach in history class. Mistral's home to Remnant's largest black market. Illegal dust mixtures, stolen weapons, drugs, the kind of stuff only criminals and other dregs like to buy." He chuckled once, looking back up to the sky before continuing. "Always found it funny though. When I was a lad, I always thought it was strange that it happened in Mistral. I always wondered 'Why not Vacuo? They practically got no government?' Then I guess I realized there weren't reason for there to be one."
"Because of the prevalent nomadic lifestyle right?"
Cu humphed and sat up. "Yup, that's it right there. If you want to know more, you should ask Lili about it. Her family's been travelin' the desert for... three generations was what she said, I think?"
"I know," the Courier said bluntly, "I heard her argument with David."
Cu blanched, frowning in slight fear, "I never want to see Lili like that again. Come to think of it," he paused, scrutinizing the Courier. "You're only slightly more talkative than she is. Wonder what you'd sound like if you got angry."
The Courier looked at his partner for a minute before shrugging. Cu smiled to himself before laying back onto the top of the sand colored roof, staring at the darkening sky. He sighed and blinked staring at the broken moon that hung over the desert city. Shrugging, the Courier shrugged and went back to looking over the various people moving to and fro through the city, hoping to spot something out of the ordinary.
"Speaking of being mad, what was that homeless girl's deal? More importantly- and this is somethin' I've been meaning to ask for the past two hours-why in the myriad number of the First's triumphs did ya' buy her steaks?"
The Courier blinked a few timed and turned to his friend, who stared at him with half a grin on his face. The Courier opened his mouth and subsequently closed it, groaning loudly and shaking his head. Turning back towards the street, he finally took a seat right on the edge, crossing his legs as he watched the streetlights announce the arrival of the night to the city. He maintained the vigil as the sunlight faded, the moon turning the beige roof into a silver one, dozens of shadows forming under its bright light.
"Huh. More stars out here than in Atlas," Cu whispered.
The burly man turned around, his face hidden in a haze. "Huh. More stars out here than Vault City. Thanks for helping make Hopeville possible, Caleb."
"Ye-Yeah," the Courier said, shaking his head to rid himself of a memory. "Anyway, spot anyone?"
"...No," Cu said with a sad grimace as he finished looking over the edge of the opposite corner. "Boss, I... look, I get the plan-I respect it even! It's brilliant! But...I...it's... I..."
The Courier sighed. "You think it's wrong? Well, I know it's wrong. But..." A moment of silence filled the air between the two. He heard Cu hum in affirmation, a sad growl that told him everything. "I'm sorry...Please, let me know if you see anyone we can trail..."
Cu spoke up after a long minute of silence. "I said it before, I'm with ya'. We'll just hit 'em fast so they can't do nothin' to those lasses!" He turned and gave a cocky grin to the Courier, showing off the sharp canines that overlapped the others.
The Courier smiled under his helmet and nodded, returning his gaze towards the streets. He watched as a young, red-haired woman stepped out from the building in front of them. She looked around nervously, the brahmin-or cows, since the cattle of Remnant only had one head-ears flopping about. The Courier watched as she walked down the fresh sidewalk to the east half of the city. She looked about nervously and hunched over as she walked, keeping below the chest level of most of the other people walking to and fro amongst the desert city.
The Courier's smile disappeared.
"Found one," he said, "We need to move." Hearing his partner grunt in affirmation, the Courier ran and hopped over the opposing edge and into an alleyway. He felt the rush of wind pass him for a second before he landed back first on the large shadowy tarp that hung between the buildings. The sounds of ripping filled the Courier's ears, nearly muffled by the cacophony of the various cars and pedestrians moving about in the roads to the front of the building, and the Courier grasped the thick fabric as it split. Grunting as he hit the wall, he climbed down the makeshift rope before letting go, rolling as he hit the dirty alley pavement. Looking in front of him, he watched as his partner grabbed a window ledge mid-fall, slamming into the wall feet first. The Courier grabbed his thick duffel bag and hoisted onto his back, and made his way into the maze of dark alleyways, his partner trailing behind him.
She watched through her scope as the woman went into the apartment complex, briefly stroking the scaled cheek of a small reptilian faunus boy as he eagerly began to open and close his mouth in quick succession. The woman gently closed the door, and Lili heard the automatic lock click from across the street. Smiling, she hoisted the heavy rifle onto her back, grunting as she felt the strap briefly constrict against her sternum before walking over to the edge of the building. Hopping over she climbed down the numerous landings of the fire escape before stepping into the dingy, refuse filled alley next to the apartment building. Looking behind her, she came to face with Kumiho, who gave her an odd, surprisingly apologetic grin.
Shrugging their shoulders in almost unison, the two girls walked deeper into the labyrinth of alleyways, stepping over the odd potted plant or garbage bag. The alleyways smelled like they typical downtown dumpster, of trash, animal refuse, and human fluids. After nodding to the same passed out man they encountered half an hour beforehand, the jug of what smelled like home-brewed palm wine still in his hands, the two groaned as they came across the chain link fence that blocked another alley, perpendicular to the one they stood in. Crawling beneath the large hole in the bottom the two girls continued forward, entering onto the sparsely populated street that stretched in the distance to their left and right.
Lili watched as Kumiho took out her scroll, tapping away for a few minutes before pocketing the device into her leather jacket's inner pocket. She sighed and attempted to keep her eyes open. Blinking a few times, Lili's eyes shot open as she nearly stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk, before quietly groaning. The occasional dropped bottle and honking car broke the silence of the city night, keeping the two awake as they passed by the dingy apartments of the narrows known as the outer edge. Kumiho hummed sadly as she looked at the broken glass and abandoned beige buildings.
It took fifteen years to build up this city Lili thought sadly, and parts are already abandoned. I guess we really are like the other nations now...
Lili's thoughts halted as she felt her self being gently pulled to the edge of an alleyway, looking to her side, she found her partner making a shushing motion with her index finger. Blinking, she followed Kumiho's lead and looked out from the alley. She watched as a black van stopping next to some poor businesswoman. The woman stared at the van for a moment before turning around, walking back towards the two girls, just as the driver stepped out of the car with a wet looking rag in his right hand.
Kumiho grimaced and sighed. "She'd have been taken anyway...Okay... Okay! This is our best opportunity to plant the Scroll. Lili, Let 'em know we found the bastards. Going in."
Lili's eyes widened, and she began to speak. "Wa-wai- oh... oh no..." Lili grimaced as she watched her partner sneak towards the van, leaving her weapon behind. Pulling out her rifle, she watched through the scope as Kumiho hid behind a wall as the man walked into the back of the van, pulling in the unconscious woman after him. Sneaking closer Kumiho crouched low behind a dumpster in an alley just a few meters from the van. The man closed the doors loudly and Kumiho made her move, crouching and moving out of sight of the tinted van's rear view mirror. As the man opened the door she rolled forward, pushing her spine against the van's rear doors and pulling out her scroll. As the engine started and the car purred like a cat she quickly went prone grabbing something under the van and crawling underneath it placing her scroll between her teeth. Her feet disappeared just as the van began rolling forward.
"Oh geez..." Lili moaned quietly as she pulled out her scroll, furiously tapping against the holographic keyboard.
"Yes, that is exactly the reason we were following ya'." Cu said rubbing the back of his head, grimacing at the lie he just spouted. The Courier palmed the front of his helmet, clenching his teeth at the situation. The young woman blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes skeptically, pursing her lips. Cu sighed and made a placating gesture. "Look, we even have student ID's to prove it."
"No... No it's fine," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just...let a girl know beforehand. I was just terrified that you were going to kidnap me off the street." She rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger, sighing at the sight of the two huntsman before her. "But thanks, I guess. At least you guys are trying to help, unlike my coworkers. 'It's fine Cathy! You won't be kidnapped Cathy! You're not in Mistral, Cathy!' Ugh. And you know what? All they ever do is complain. It's always-"
The Courier looked to the side, smiling in discomfort as he focused on something besides the woman in front of him. Cu kept nodding his head while occasionally stealing surreptitious glances at the... reasons the woman kept herself hunched over as she walked. The Courier fidgeted as the woman continued to talk about her day, giving his partner a rather disbelieving glance when he told her to continue. His body shuddered in surprise as his scroll buzzed, and he spun his head trying to find someone out of reflex. Pulling out the scroll he took a look at the screen, grunting as he read Lili's message.
"Excuse me" the Courier spoke up, interrupting the woman mid-sentence. "Sorry, but we need to leave. Our friend's in trouble."
The woman blinked in confusion at the statement before taking on a shocked expression. He nodded his head at her before gesturing for Cu to follow him. Cu's eyes widened and he bowed to the woman before following close behind. The two ran down the sidewalk, avoiding the alleyways as the Courier attempted to find the quickest path towards Kumiho's Scroll. Looking at his Pip-Boy he watched as the device tracked her scroll, through his own one's rudimentary proximity system, displaying her as a small dot traveling at a decent speed from road to road towards a point somewhere on the west end of town. Putting the devices away, he lost focus as the two made their way towards the edge of the city, making it to the sidewalk near the edge of the Plateau after about a quarter hour of running.
Caleb breathed in and out, desperately catching his breath as his heart buzzed in his chest at a pitch higher than normal. He stared over the waist high wall that separated the sidewalk from a dozen meters of rock and dirt leading to a sudden drop, grimacing at the sheer height the two stood. Sitting against the wall he took another look at his Pip-Boy before turning towards an alleyway towards his left. He nodded and made a gesture, and he watched as Lili walked out onto the sidewalk. She looked to each end of the street before running across, her rifle and white hoodie bouncing with each step. He turned to face Cu, who had decided to plop down next to him.
Lili joined the two and looked at them both with a worried expression. "S-so... um... you... got my message?"
The Courier nodded his head as his breath slowed, the buzzing in his chest decreasing as he pushed himself up. His held his Pip-Boy out for the others to see, and the two craned their necks towards the device to get a better look. Against the backdrop of an orange tinted map of the city a small triangle blinked once every couple of seconds, before moving slowly into the outlines of a building. Gesturing his head the three dashed across the street and into the alleyways of the city. It took them a good five minutes of running in the shadows before they came within the thirty meters of Kumiho's scroll. Warehouses of varying sizes surrounded them, giving the Courier an idea of the inside environment.
Large amounts of cover and tight corridors, so mid-to-short range firearms have an advantage, but not for sniper rifles. It's even better for melee fighters using shorter weapons due to the somewhat tight corridors preventing the usage of larger weapons, but with poor conditions for weapons such as Kumiho's as that ax's likely to get caught against the various pallets and shelves. They have the advantage of knowing the area well, while we'll need to deal with any traps they might have set up. Then there are their victims. Push comes to shove, they might use their... merchandise as shields. We might end up losing some of them.
"Alright, from now until the slavers are taken care of," the Courier whispered, his teammates being the only two to hear his words. "Keep quiet."
The Courier pointed upwards with his left index finger, handing Lili his Silenced COS rifle, Boone, and a spare magazine. Shrugging she grabbed both, throwing the weapons strap over her left shoulder before climbing up a ladder on the sides of one of the nearby warehouses. Motioning for Cu to follow him, the two rounded the corner and snuck down the space between the warehouses, moving slowly towards the edge of the alleyway, ducking behind several trashcans as a man, hiding a pistol under his leather jacket, passed them by. Making it to the end the Courier kept low, taking a quick glance out into the wide street before them before ducking his head back in.
A single man, cigarette in hand, leaned against the sheet metal doors of the entrance, a large rifle leaning next to him. The warehouse itself had a dilapidated sign reading words "Black Taurus Shipping Corporation" hanging unlit above the garage doors, with a picture of a bull and a black cat ripped nearly in half, separating the two. All along the road outside several men patrolled up and down the road, and around the building. Grimacing the Courier looked directly across the street as one of the guards reached down and pulled his gun out only to collapse, a small metal ball hitting the ground beside him.
The Courier nodded and tapped Cu's shoulder, pointing towards the various streetlamps. He made a small box with his thumbs and index fingers before making a quick stabbing motion. Cu nodded and bend down with his hands on the ground, before inhaling deeply. Jumping faster than the Courier could follow, he hit the wall in front of him with his right leg before pushing himself towards a higher point on the opposite wall. He proceeded to reach the roof after a good two seconds of kicking himself from wall to wall, his form disappearing into the cold desert night.
The Courier waited for a good minute before seeing Cu's shadow jump across the gap between the warehouses, before grabbing the ledge of the opposite side and pulling himself up once again. Clenching his eyes shut, he took another look towards their target, sighing in relief that none of the guards noticed his partner. As he pulled his head inside the alley once again, the lights dimmed before going out, blanketing the entire street, and likely the whole block, in a thick darkness. Soon the only the moon lit the street in front of them, and the Courier exited the alleyway, clicking the switch on the side of his helmet.
A gush of wind behind him notified him of Cu's return. Giving his partner a nod, the Courier pointed to the group of five men that filed into the street, before taking position just behind the corner of their target. His partner hit the wall just to his left, muffling his breath with his left palm. The sound of a group of shotgun's going off broke the silence, and Cu gave the Courier a wide eyed look. The sounds of a firefight came from inside the warehouse, as brief flashes appeared through the thin windows meters above them. The Courier shook his head and crouched near the corner the alleyway, pulling out Randall Clark's old service rifle. Leaning out he shot the rightmost man in the temple, causing him to collapse from his aura running out. The others panicked and he took down the next closest man by firing five rounds into his chest. He pointed to the roof of the building with his right hand as he ducked back into the alley, dodging the grunt's returning fire. Cu disappeared, once again hopping from wall to wall and onto the building. The Courier leaned out, and fired a round into one of the goon's head, causing him to collapse to the ground.
Two slavers landed out into the middle of the road, harshly slamming into the hardened tar. The Courier fired the last three rounds into the closest one's chest, before pulling out A Light Shining in Darkness. He emptied the clip into the second man, as Lili knocked out the first with a shot to the chest. The two fell to the ground in a tired slump, their auras giving out. Holstering his pistol and rifle, the Courier ran towards the Garage door, pushing it open as Cu appeared to his immediate left. The Courier hit the wall next to him as buckshot from six shotgun barrels being fired simultaneously made mincemeat of the air where he previously stood.
"Whoa! Miho, it's us!" Cu shouted as the Courier's heart began to whirr down. He gave Cu a dry look for speaking Kumiho's nickname, before turning his attention to the clanging sound from the garage. Her battleax just hit the ground as he saw his wide eyed teammate scan him from head to toe repeatedly in an attempt to ascertain how much she might have hurt him. She turned towards Cu as he coughed into his hand. "Don't worry, his back was to the wall before ya' fired. He's alright!" Cu finished, giving Kumiho a confident grin before giving a worried look to the Courier as she turned towards him again.
"I'm fine. Aura's still at its maximum." The Courier said, knowing full well their stealth broke. Kumiho responded with a sarcastic grin, before he continued. "You okay?"
She frowned slightly, a look of resignation on her face. "I can handle a few guards."
The Courier blinked, registering her comment. "I was referring to being dragged halfway across the city under a three-ton van."
Kumiho nodded her head in understanding. "Ah... My Aura's still pretty high. Only took a couple of hits." The Courier nodded, his relieved smile hidden under his helmet, before quietly motioning for them to follow him. "Oh," Kumiho spoke up. "I got them all. There wasn't a rogue huntsman this time."
The Courier smiled in pride. "Good j-"
"Dammit!" Cu yelled, a frown etched on his face. "Can I get one fe-"
"Lancer," The Courier said, causing his friend to look up surprised. "It's no time to relax. We need to make sure that none of them escaped-more importantly might escape-with any of the girls. Can you go in and lock up the slavers on one side of the hall. I'll be with you in a moment."
Cu smiled, foisting his spear over the back of his neck. "I thought ya' were gonna use 'spear' to refer ta' me!"
The Courier shrugged before replying. "You were the one who said 'Lancer sounds cooler, though!'" He smiled under his helmet and closed his eyes. "Still. It isn't as cool as 'Courier'."
Cu knocked the Courier's armor with the back of his hand as he stepped into the building, twirling his spear around him rapidly in an attempt to show off, before disappear. Kumiho raised an eyebrow. "Ca-Courier." She corrected herself. "You feeling alright?"
"Not really, no," The Courier said, narrowing his eyes as he looking up and down the street. "Nothing's ever this easy." He sighed. "Sorry. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Anyway, I just think it'd be most efficient if two people went inside. I think you and Rifle should out here for now, keep our eyes out for their reinforcements."
Kumiho nodded, giving the Courier a concerned stare as she walked out of the building. The Courier hummed as he turned around, and looked over to Lili. He took his fingers and pointed them in his eyes, before making an arcing motion up and down the darkened street receiving a small shaky thumbs up from the quiet girl. Nodding, he pulled out his rifle, putting in another magazine before pocketing the empty one, pulling back the cocking handle with a satisfying click. Holstering his rifle, he began reloading his revolver as he walked into the slaver's den.
The air smelled like any slaver den, of various sexual and bodily fluids that come with forcing people into becoming property. The Courier winced as he walked through one of the side rooms of the warehouse, steeping over the bodies of half a dozen unconscious slavers. He met Cu as he stared wide eyed inside the main area. He tapped his friend on the shoulder only to start in surprise as Cu vomited his dinner all over his boots. The Courier patted his friend on his back as he coughed up the last few bits of brown chunky stomach acid like a first-time smoker. Cu gave the Courier a horrified expression, and he responded by simply nodding slowly.
He looked into the main room, blankly staring at scene within. All around the warehouse sat, lay and stood drugged out looking women, some of whom had missing ears and partially cut off tails. Several had entire patches of skin missing, with a few scales above and below the scarring to indicate them being faunus at all. He turned to Cu, and pulled him up from the ground. His partner looked at him with a nearly broken expression. Cu slipped between the small border between horrified and furious, and he twitched a few times. A small violet light cracked from his eyes as a crack formed on his right spaulder. The Courier heard a buzzing sound in his ears, as if an alarm began to blare right next to him. Cu breathed in and out to calm himself down, as both the strange glow disappeared, taking the unlocked stone's with them. "Ca-Courier..." His mouth became that of one of the singing fishes that tended to be shot full of holes after one too many rendition of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
The Courier grasped him on his shoulder "Sorry you had to see this." His partner looked down the hallway with a despondent, horrified expression as the realization of the sheer scope of what he just witnessed hit him like a mini-nuke.
"No one should have to see this" His partner responded, a tired expression marring his features.
The Courier nodded and simply pat his friend on the shoulder, "but we can't just let 'em stay 'here."
Cu nodded as the Courier pulled him up, and sped off into the main room, briefly appearing after a moment, slowly carrying one of the girls into the opposite side before appearing again carrying a slaver over each shoulder. The Courier chuckled and went to the second floor, waving at his friend as he walked along the catwalk. He pulled the first slaver he came across over his shoulder and entering the office room at the end. He plopped the slaver down, before carrying a young drugged out woman down the stairs into one of the side rooms. He lost the time as he worked, blinking when he looked down the catwalk realizing that he finished locking up all the slavers.
A niggling feeling in the back of the Couriers mind made him tense up, glancing at each door of the catwalk through the green light of his helmet's night vision. His stomach churned as he felt his neck tense up, his typical reaction to quiet, the thought of someone stabbing him in the back manifesting as discomfort. His mind knew that his Aura, unlocked by the kind folk of Remnant, would take a surprise blow, but tension kept the Courier from dying countless times. He activated his Pip-Boy as he hid his breath, listening for any telltale signs of others. The Pip-Boy's screen lit up and he turned off his night vision briefly to look at the screen. A new map appeared, detailing the layout of the warehouse and the surrounding area.
Twisting the nob he stared at the local map, arrows representing his comrades alongside their names appeared in several spots on the map. Lili's position appeared transposed over the corner of a different building than the one she climbed earlier, while Kumiho paced back and forth in front of the garage of the building. Cu appeared just below his own and appeared to be leaving the building. The sound of someone landing on the catwalk behind him caused the Courier to tense before sighing deeply, ready to get onto his friend for scaring him like that.
"Lancer, you finished right?" The Courier asked, turning around.
"Hope he did," the huntsman said, a simple smile on his lip. "At least then it'd make your deaths someth-"
As the man moved his arm to pull out his weapon the Courier fired twice from the hip with his Ranger Sequoia, Morales, fanning the hammer and hitting only on the second shot. He ducked as the man swung his sword at his neck. Jumping as a second slice came at his thigh, his opponent likely attempting to strike across his femoral artery for a quick kill. The Courier fired the third shot from the revolver, hitting the man in the right arm as he dodged left.
The Courier cocked the hammer back to fire off the final round, only to back in surprise as the shadowy man appeared right in front of him, a happy grin reflecting the moonlight. He aimed a slice at him, the blade still nearly invisible. The blade hit him in the chest, sending sparks flying as the edge cut against the tough, thick steel that composed his armor. The Courier briefly registered the fact his feet no longer touched the ground right before flying backwards he slid a meter when he landed, his helmeted head hitting the bar sat the end of the catwalk.
He rolled as the rogue huntsman slammed his shadowy blade down, barely avoiding the strike as sparks from metal clashing on metal briefly ignited. Standing up he charged the huntsman, tackling the surprised man into the wall, before throwing a hook at his face with his left hand. The huntsman dodged, grabbing the Courier's arm before slamming a blow into it, causing the Courier's Aura to flare briefly as the pain of what should have been his arm breaking shot up his artificial spine. As he felt the pommel of the blade smash the back of his helmet, he pulled out his combat knife. Twisting his body he stabbed the man in his thigh, aiming for the man's superficial femoral artery. The Man's aura flashed brightly, taking a hit from what would have been an extremely lethal blow.
The man kicked the Courier in the face, forcing him onto his knees, The Courier raised the knife above him, intercepting the shadowy blade with the flat of his own. The clang of steel clashing filled the air as the Courier desperately pushed the blade back forcing it to clang against the floor as he stumbled upwards. His opponent chuckled and backed about half a meter, letting the Courier stand up.
"Your surprise me, Atlesian!" the Man said, taking a step forward. The Courier shook his left arm before adopting a ranger's melee stance. He held out his forearm out in front of him, the Pip-Boy's metal chassis providing a small shield for his chest and face. He held the knife out slightly to his side, with the tip pointing towards the man's smiling visage. "You're the only person I've ever been unable to read!"
The Courier attempted to block the man's strike by slamming his Pip-Boy into the man's wrist, but only managed to meet the blade as it came at him from above his shoulder, the force of the blow pushed him backwards as the sword left a small scratch on the durable device. A kick met the Courier's chest, and the Courier sailed through the closest second story window, hitting the ground on his back, causing him to groan as he felt the pain all the way down his legs. He felt the glass shards embed into his arms and neck, not piercing deep enough to cause massive blood loss. He groaned, realizing his aura ran out, and sat up slightly.
"CALEB!" Kumiho shouted from a distance, and the Courier rolled to the side as the huntsman landed feet first stabbing his blade straight into the concrete. The sword went in a quarter to the tip. The Courier pulled out a Light Shining in the Darkness, and fired off all six rounds as fast as his somewhat slow trigger finger could pull the trigger back. The first shot hit the man in the arm as he dodged, and he retrieved the sword in one final pull. The second and third shots hit the corner of an alleyway and a dumpster. The fourth bounced off the one of the walls and grazed one of the fallen slaver's arm, causing blood to begin pooling around his arm. The last two rounds went through an upper floor window of an adjacent warehouse.
The Courier studied the man in the Vacuoan moonlight, his eyes having adjusted to the somewhat low amount of light, giving him a good overview of the huntsman's features. He wore some armor, unlike most of the students at shade, but only about half a set which covered his torso and shoulders. Riveted bands covered his shoulders, and the top quarter of his upper arms. A steel cuirass covered the front of his chest, with only a single scratch running diagonally from the armpit to the hip marring its near perfect appearance. A back-piece, under the front piece, provided the huntsman's back with protection. Under his armor he wore a simple, short sleeved tunic, which allowed him to display the wiry musculature of his arms. In his right hand he held a European longsword, dark as a starless night sky, the sight of which caused the hairs on the back of the Courier's neck to raise. The Courier never put much faith into mysticism, yet the small, almost miniscule dark glow that surrounded the sword gave him pause.
Kumiho charged from behind, swinging her blade in a wide horizontal arc, which the man jumped onto, using his weight to stop the ax's swing. He stabbed her in the chest causing her to be thrown back and dropping her massive battleax. As she flew, the Courier holstered his weapon, and looked over towards the warehouse, hoping to call out to Cu. He only noticed the blur milliseconds before the sounds of clashing metal filled the air, two dust clouds indicating Cu's stopping point. The huntsman had parried Cu's spear, and threw a kick in his direction. Cu pulled back, dodging the kick and dashed around the man nigh instantaneously, stabbing at him several times in blurringly fast attacks, each aimed at a different part of the man's torso and each coming from a different direction. The huntsman dodged each strike, sucking and weaving as he stepped off of Kumiho's ax, a tired smile on his face. He grabbed the spear just under where the barbs hid, and pulled Cu close, before grabbing him, forcing him in the direction of Lili. Cu twitched as the .308 round hit him in the chest, causing his aura to flare.
The Courier pulled out his LAER, recently modified to prevent explosions upon target death, and fired at the huntsman's arm, causing him to drop Cu to the ground. Cu sped out, grabbing both his lance and Kumiho's ax as he dashed off towards Kumiho. The Courier dodged a strong horizontal strike from the man's blade, and called out to his allies. "Lancer! He knows where she is, get Rifle out of there!"
Cu dashed off behind a warehouse and disappeared as the sword stabbed into the Courier's breastplate, sending him flying. He felt strong arms catch him and plant him on the ground. He nodded his thanks to Kumiho before motioning for her to attack the huntsman from the left, while he took the huntsman from the right. The huntsman continued to face him, with that nigh permanent grin on his face, even as Kumiho aimed the barrels of her shotgun.
The Courier fired off three shots, each one missing as the man sidestepped randomly with each trigger pull. He jumped up as Kumiho fired, allowing the shots to create a series of massive holes near one of the warehouses. The huntsman turned his descent into a strike slamming into Kumiho's Ax's shaft, before using the falling momentum to kick her in the stomach. She cringed as she fell back swinging her Ax one handed to prevent him from hitting her with a second strike. In the middle of her swing she fired the shotgun blasts, which, again, he dodged nonchalantly. The Courier furrowed his brows as he fired at the man's torso, hitting the man squarely in the shoulder. A clanging sound filled the air as his left spaulder hit the ground, and the man stood still, staring surprised at the Courier, before dodging out of the way of the following shots. The Courier flipped a switch, dropping the microfusion cell pack as he pulled out another, only to drop the weapon and dodge to the side as the huntsman slashed at him repeatedly with his blade. He felt the blade nick the skin of his arms and thigh as he continued to dodge.
Kumiho intercepted one of his attacks, sending sparks flying and the man backed away as she twisted and swung her ax upwards. He furred his brows at the two Shade students and took a hunched forward stance. He looked at his missing shoulder spaulder with a blank look before turning towards the two students. His mouth opened and he began to gape, a somewhat shocked expression on his face. He then contorted his expression, giving the two a wild, ear to ear grin and wide, frenzied eyes.
"Amazing! Absolutely Astounding! Awe IN-SPI-ER-ING!" He said through his wicked grin, causing the Courier to grimace. "You are a truly worthy opponent!" He switched stances, holding his longsword with both hands for the first time in the fight. The Courier's eyes widened and he felt his back for a flash-bang, hoping to blind him long enough for them to kill him. The Courier dropped the flash-bang, putting his right hand over Kumiho's eyes as the flash went off blinding the man in front of them, who began blinking and charging in the direction that they used to be standing at
The Courier pointed to him and clenched his fist as he pulled out the weapon he spent the past two weeks repairing. Kumiho nodded and once again engaged the man in melee, her glowing eyes squinting in concentration. She struck from every angle, running around in a counter-clockwise circle, striking at him with diagonal and horizontal slashes. The man, still clenching his eyes shut and grimacing, parried the first strike forcing Kumiho to spin clockwise and strike again from below, which he sidestepped within an inch of.
The Courier loaded in a cartridge containing five overcharged microfusion cells, and flipped the switch on the side, starting up the electrical charge. Dodging his counterattack, she backed up and fired, destroying the lamppost he stood in front of. She flipped backwards from the force of her weapon's fire and landed on her feet and left hand. She charged from that position, firing off another round of shotgun shells as she jumped, propelling her through the air at an increased speed. She spun as she flew, throwing a strike powerful enough to leave air trail at the man, who only held his sword up in time for the blow to send him flying towards one of the warehouse walls. Her ax slammed into the ground creating a massive crater of concrete and re-bar.
The Courier aimed at the recovering man, whose smile dissipated slightly as he looked straight at the wastelander. Pulling the trigger, the newly repaired and modified gauss rifle fired off a round hitting the man in the chest. A blue explosion resounded around the strike, causing part of the warehouse wall to cave inward as the huntsman flew back several meters, denting the wall before collapsing to the ground. The huntsman laid there for a good five seconds as Kumiho approached.
"Wait! Ax, don't-" the Courier barely got out before the man grabbed Kumiho by the neck and charged at the Courier, using his teammate as a human shield. Holstering his gauss rifle, he attempted to dodge before the weight of his partner slammed into him, sending him sprawling. He heard the man run at them, and the Courier twisted putting his body in front of her, not wanting to gamble whether or not she still had aura left. He grit his teeth as the huntsman slashed upwards, slamming into his head. He felt his body follow his skull, his artificial spine retaining its connection to the metal portion of his skull, as if riveted to it. He briefly noted his flying helmet slamming into a streetlamp just before his body made a dent in the metal wall of the warehouse behind him. Collapsing to the ground, he pushed himself up slowly, trying to get his lungs to breath. Looking up, he watched as the huntsman approached Kumiho.
He took out his plasma defender and fired seven shots as he stood up, using the wall as a brace. The man dodged all of the shots, before picking up Kumiho's weapon and cocking it. The Courier began to twist in order to dodge but the force of six shotgun shells hitting him knocked him back into the wall again. As he collapsed into a sitting position, he dropped the plasma defender which slid just to his as he landed.
His armor blocked most of the shots, though he could feel the burning sensation of several pellets burying themselves somewhere between his epidermis and reinforced muscles. The warm wet feeling let him register his now bleeding right arm, the single quick spurt of blood further letting him know that a pellet hit an artery. Looking down, he registered that his right thigh was bleeding in at least three places, though not so much that the femoral artery had been hit, and he silently thanked the Think Tank for what they put there after the Battle of Hoover Dam.
He looked up, his lightheartedness allowing him to just barely make out the man dropping the ax and dodging as several bullet-holes appeared in the concrete under his feet. Kumiho charged at him throwing a punch at his stomach before being smacked in the back of the head with the pommel of the sword. She collapsed to the ground hard, and pushed herself out of the way of the huntsman's strike, only to receive yet another follow-up kick to the gut from the man. She flew a few meters back before sitting up.
"R-Run Ku-K-A-Ah..." the Courier barely whispered out before groaning in pain. He attempted to drag himself up only to collapse back down. He reached over his body wincing as blood began to soak into his undershirt. He grabbed the plasma defender and aimed it at the huntsman as he approached Kumiho. He fired off two shots, hitting the man once in the back, and missing the second by about half a meter, burning a hole through one of the warehouse walls. The man turned around and gave him a shocked look before charging at him. The Courier fired four more shots at the man as he charged, missing with each shot. The Courier held up the plasma defender as the man prepared to slice his head in half.
A spear met the blade before the swing began, and the Cu's shadow fell over the Courier's body. Cu lifted himself using his spear and the man's arm strength and spun his body to kick the man in the face. The man ducked just as the kick went over as well as Cu's second kick, and backed up. Cu stood in front of the Courier, holding his spear with his left hand cupped under the spear, so that he could aim the strikes better. The rogue huntsman humphed and gave Cu a bored frown, before stepping back once again, dodging one of Lili's shots. The loud sound of a sniper rifle being fired filled the air, letting the entire team know she pulled out her own rifle.
"Y-y-run..." the Courier got out before coughing out some blood, though less than the previous cough, indicating his lungs already began healing. Cu simply crouched towards the ground, as if preparing to sprint, holding his spear just one handed. Cu struck as the man dodged another of Lili's shots, stabbing the man in the center of his chest. The man parried the strike, and backed up before Cu's gut kick could hit.
"Not a chance, bud!" Cu screamed before dashing around the man. The Courier, his arm shaking from the pain, fired a couple of rounds, holding when Cu appeared just near where the shot might hit. Neither hit, but they forced the huntsman back like Lili's shots did. Cu swung his spear horizontally, utilizing the head's sharpened sides as a slashing weapon. The long tip met the man's dark blade for a moment before the man slid to the side. The man dashed towards the Courier, his blade looking to slice something off. He fired three times as the man charged before holding his left arm up to meet the blade. The blade slammed into the Pip-boy, and sent sparks flying.
The man pulled back and prepared a stab before jumping to the Courier's right, a bullet-hole appearing just half a meter to the left of the Courier's chest. Cu stopped dashing just a hair short of kicking the Courier in the groin, and stabbed his spear at the rogue huntsman, forcing him to back away from the downed wastelander.
The man gave a frown and humphed shifting his stance once again, once again gripping his blade in just his right hand. He stood still, as if waiting, but Cu simply pointed his spear at the man, wary of the obvious opening. The man dodged the sniper shot, as well as the subsequent shot that followed a second later. Cu dashed around the man, as fast as even his speeding form could go, thrusting his spear numerous times at the man, who simply dodged them as he neared the Courier.
The Courier attempted to stand up, only to be kicked over and onto the ground. He clenched his teeth as he tried pushing himself up, only to feel a foot holding him down. He sighed as he turned his head. He felt the man crouch quickly and bend his arm around trying to get his plasma defender. As he felt the tug on his arm start, the Courier fired, heating up the device and creating a new hole in the nearby wall. The man's weight left his body and he felt himself be dragged about an inch as the man kept his grip on the defender. Pain ran up his body and he let the energy weapon go, berating himself mentally as he felt his grip lessen.
Cu jumped over the Courier and thrust his weapon down at the man, scratching the huntsman's armor as he dodged to the left. The huntsman smiled briefly before dropping his sword and grabbing the shaft of Cu's spear. He tugged the spear and put Cu in a headlock, forcing him into a human shield. He aimed the plasma defender towards the top of the warehouse and began firing. He twisted his head and dodged a shot from Lili, before firing in a different spot, firing off the last shot in the plasma defenders extended power supply. A small, weak scream let out before a thudding sound interrupted the silence. Blinking the man aimed the defender at Cu's head and grunted as the weapon clicked, shooting nothing.
He tossed the now empty energy weapon aside and pushed Cu forward, before stabbing him with his own spear. Cu's aura flared brightly as the man ran with Cu caught on the end of his own spear before being slammed against the ground hard enough to send Concrete flying. Cu groaned and spit in the man's direction as the man walked towards his fallen blade. Holding his blade in his right hand, the huntsman looked around at the carnage of the fight and grinned. The Courier managed to twist himself around, and leaned against one of the warehouse walls.
"Much more challenging than the last ones," he said as he approached the Courier. Looking once more behind him, he nodded his head as Cu shakily stood up, an otherworldly violet glow coming from his still light gray eyes. He stepped forward before wincing, and doubled over. "You're all one in the same. You both don't know when to cut and run, do you? Admirable, really." The huntsman crouched down and looked the Courier in the eyes, throwing the Courier's knife to the side as he weakly attempted to stab the man in the neck. "Even to the end huh?"
The man stood back up and pulled from behind him Morales, the last bullet still unfired. The man flipped the thumb release on the side, and the cylinder came out. He pushed the bullets out the back, letting them fall to the ground. Cu went wide eyed and stepped forward, his spear in his right hand.
"No!" Cu begged before falling to his knees once again in pain. The huntsman huffed and loaded the one round still unused back into the revolver. He clicked the cylinder back in and spun it a few times, smiling at the clicking. He spun it manually when it finished, placing the cylinder with the bullet at just to the side of the twelve o'clock position. He cocked the hammer back, aligning the cylinder with the barrel, and aimed it at the Courier's head.
The Courier gave the man an unamused stare, and humphed. "Make it count."
He only saw the flash of the bullet being fired before feeling the searing pain of a bullet hitting his head. He felt the sparks as it slammed into his skull, the scraping felling of the bullet hitting the thick saturnite alloy plates which the Think Tank replaced the top half of his skull with, burning slightly less than the bullet. The bullet traveled around his metal skull, cutting through the skin and separating the slightly rooted dermis from the artificial skull, before shooting out from the other side in a horrific bloody mess. The Courier let his body drop to the ground as the world began to spin, and he felt the blood trickle down to his eyebrows, masking his blinking from the man in front of him.
He listened to the world around him ring, only for something else to blast into his ears. An unnatural, eldritch sound broke the relative silence, reverberating against the metal walls of the warehouse next to him. It sounded as if three dozen guitar strings snapped at once while a man screamed with the tone of an air raid siren three octaves higher and lower than the usual pitch simultaneously. It audibly trepanned into his skull, making him hear and think in nothing but the sounds. Dozens of sounds surrounded the noise like a blanket, screaming and buzzing and gnashing, as if the natural word screamed in abstract agony. The huntsman stepped away from the sound, towards his head. The Courier opened his eyes and looked towards the source of the sound.
He desperately wished he kept his eyes shut, hoping that his still body might fool the thing which stood where Cu had struggled to stand just moments before into believing him dead and gone. The thing wasn't so much human as it was like looking at the human form backwards through a shaky, blaring, and static filled television. His vision trembled as he stared at it, with the tinnitus like ringing in his ears growing ever louder the longer he kept looking at it. In all the five years he wandered the wastes, of all the horrific and terrible creatures he saw, fought or ran away from, none compared to the absolute alien and terrifying sight of the thing before him.
The monstrous thing stood tall in the spot Cu had been, hideous and otherworldly, a scathing mockery of the human form written in every one of its deformed and mutant cells, in every one of its pointed, bristled hairs, in every perverse and horrific undulation the thick, swollen, meaty muscles that composed the thing's right arm made. Its legs were on backwards, with the knee facing the same way as its hunched, shaking back, the thighs and muscles still in place despite the twisted bone and skin. The skin broke and blood pooled under its feet, reflecting the embers that flaked off the body like a raging campfire. Its chest distorted, twisting and turning, muscles and bones changing places as the thing breathed in air and breathed out smoke. Its left arm hung there, all skin and blood vessels, flopping about like a pupped being swung to and fro.
Blood vessels as thick as tree limbs thumped against the thing's immense and bony forehead, trailing down to the things trunk like neck. Every black hair pointed up in different directions, needles long and stiff enough to pierce through a man's thigh. Its ears shrunk in and out of its head, a crunching sound filling the air with each inch they moved. It's mouth distorted, its jaw locking above the upper, as it's massive, swollen, lower lip covered up to the things nostrils. Its left eye disappeared deep within its skull, a hole the size of a needle forming from the sucked in skin that went with it. Its right eye hung out from the stock, displaying the bleeding, fleshy eye-socket beneath it. It opened its mouth, its cheeks peeling back and ripping to allow it to open fully. The Courier could see the thing's lungs and liver vibrating in the things mouth as it screeched a sound loud and alien enough that even the walls shook in fear.
The Courier looked at the color of the thing's remaining eye and blinked. Cu?
AN: Cu's semblance is revealed.
Next chapter coming soon... hopefully on or by Christmas day.