"There's a big difference between ranged and melee Vanguard. Ranged Vanguard will choose to specialise into specific guns, munitions, or, for some reason, bows. Melee Vanguard will also choose to specialise into a specific weapon, but additionally, most of us also choose a specific fighting style. For me, that's adding in as many flourishes and silly movements as possible. Not because it's more effective, but because I want people watching me to think that killing Antithesis is fun and easy. For me at least."

* Foxfire on Vanguard specialisations

After all the different conversations between Leah and the rest of her group that I’d been part of, I knew that Samurai had quite the selection of options available. Hell, most ads out there, advertising all the different merch, made it very clear that only their company or whatever had the rights for this specific Samurai or gear, and you’d never get this really cool toy anywhere else.

Knowing it, and actually seeing it in action, were two very different things, though.

Zuri took a lot longer than I would have liked, and I was already close to taking over the planning after all, when she finally settled on something. It wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, not longer than two or three minutes, but to me it felt like an eternity. And the people in our group very much agreed, if their growing restlessness was anything to go by. Any longer and we might have had a riot on our hands, which wouldn’t have been good.

Perhaps I should have considered just how many different ways there were to distract antithesis. Then again, while I had been trained to fight them off, I was never meant to go after aliens. My targets had always been people.

Of course, neither of us had that many points. It made it that much more impressive that Zuri managed to get quite the variety of little gadgets. Most were limited to a one time use, sure, but it was still a lot. According to Stryx, model Threes had a very sharp sense of smell, something I had already guessed to be the case. And even the smaller model Ones were easily fooled by a few simple tricks, if applied correctly.

Considering the quite large field between us and the aliens, Zuri had decided to deploy our distractions in three waves. For that, I would make my way across the field and towards the aliens, placing a few of her devices along the way. Once the aliens noticed me, I would lead them into the minefield of tricks, whereupon they’d be easy prey.

To make sure I could react to anything unforeseen, I had used the time she spent planning to go over my weapon options with Stryx. If something went wrong, they would know what I want and in what order. This way, I should be able to deal with most surprises, and react fast enough to those I couldn’t.

With our plan finalised, Zuri handed me a box filled with all the different toys. She gave me a quick explanation of each, and where she thought they’d be best placed. In return, I handed her a small gun.

The Hummingbird wasn’t a vastly impressive piece of technology as far as firearms went, but it was very easy to use and wouldn’t fire unless aimed at an alien. Stryx had been pretty clear that it was specifically designed to be used by people like Zuri, who had no training with firearms whatsoever.

Even if it was just a smaller weapon, it made me feel a whole lot better to know that she would have something reliable to defend herself with.

Laying out the toys was pretty easy. With them being one time use, they were rather cheap, and Zuri had paid an extra point each to be able to activate them remotely. It ensured that the antithesis would be caught in it, even if we were distracted, since Stryx could also press the trigger.

Around halfway across the field, the aliens finally noticed me. I had just started to lay out the last line of toys, watching the antithesis carefully from a distance. At first, only a small group turned and rushed towards me. But quickly, the rest also got the hint and soon, I had seventeen aliens running across the open field.

Even with the distractions between me and the aliens, I still felt a bit vulnerable. Throwing the last of the little balls into the grass, I pulled out a few throwing knives, aiming at the Threes leading the pack. My throws were mostly accurate, meant to blind and disorient, although one was pretty lucky, killing the Three it hit instantly.

As they advanced, I retreated, one hand on my dagger. In only a few moments they reached the defensive line, but nothing seemed to happen. At least at first. After a meter or so they slowed down, seemingly very confused.

Not what I had expected, but I would take any advantage I could get. Without any delay, I drew my dagger and reversed my direction, dashing towards the closest model Three. It seemed to notice me, once I was closer, but it didn’t react as fast as I’d seen before. With four quick motions, my blade found one of its eyes, its throat, and the side of its skull.

Before it even hit the ground, I already turned towards the next one. With a step to the side, I escaped a lunge, the Three stumbling and crashing to the ground. A quick kick followed, sending it sprawling, while I cut the throat of another alien next to me.

Drawing my second dagger, I turned with the motion, reacting to the sound of an alien behind me. I had to take a step forward to avoid it before my turn was complete, the blade of my knife burrowing its way deep into the side of the antithesis. Finishing the motion, I ended with the perfect opening to pierce the throat of the one that had face planted.

Three aliens dead, fourteen more to go.

I would advise that you fall back shortly. The first line of defence was not meant to be very strong, to ensure that the adversary would not try to find a way around it. The effects of the pheromones should lessen momentarily.

That was good to know, and I followed the advice. Not without leaving more bodies, of course. One of the Threes tried to jump me again, but I stepped behind the one I had wounded. Both went down, limbs entangled when they crashed into each other, and I pierced the skull of the unwounded one. The hit wasn’t quite enough to kill it, and with the frenzy of their attempts to separate again, I didn’t have enough time to finish the job, but that was fine by me.

Instead, I left them to their fate and increased my pace, catching up with one of the aliens fighting through the haze and towards the group. I had kept an eye on it from the corner of my vision, and at this point it started to get too close for my liking.

A throwing knife found its way into the alien's neck. To any outsider it wouldn’t have looked like anything more than a distraction. The throw had been deliberately underpowered to allow for the curved flight path I needed to hit the side of its neck. With the sounds of aliens behind me, I kept my position carefully measured, slowing down once more.

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The lead alien now turned to me, obviously not happy about my knife hitting it in such a vital spot. The movement was just enough to break the damaged skin over its artery, and alien goo started pouring out. Just as I planned.

With a bit of a jump, I escaped one of the xenos trying to take a bite out of my heels, and I threw another throwing knife into the horde, this one aimed at one of the ones closer to the edge. It looked to be ready to break away from the crowd, and I couldn’t have that. The knife did get its attention, although nothing else.

By this time, I was just about to pass our second line of defence. This was where I would try to kill as many of them as I could. And the moment the aliens started to stagger, as if they were drunk, I finally stopped the little game and jumped the closest alien. My blade found my targets with precision; throats, eyes, arteries, leg muscles, whatever I could reach. None of the aliens seemed to be able to muster any kind of resistance, and I didn’t show them any mercy.

Eight aliens died before we were past the quarter point. Only three entered the area around the last line of gizmos, and none made it more than a couple of steps. With a lunge, I landed on top of the last surviving alien, plunging my knives home into its creepy eyes.

A moment of silence followed the short brawl, and I carefully kept my eyes and ears open for any signs of more trouble.

Well done.

Targets eliminated!

Model Three x17!

Points awarded: 102!

New point total: 225

With a quick motion, I got up, quickly sheathing my blades again. Retracing my steps, I picked up the throwing knives, before I hastily made my way back towards the group. Zuri was already leading them across the field, evidently also understanding that we couldn’t linger too long with the heavy scent of dead xenos around.

I was a bit tense, with everyone being this exposed to danger. But to my relief, nothing else tried to come for us. We reached the path on the opposite side, and quickly followed it between the trees. Only then did I allow myself to take a small breath of relief.

Of course, our pace was still relatively slow. But with this we had managed to get halfway to the shelter and past the antithesis pod. Zuri was leaving a few of her new pheromone gizmos along the path. Apparently they signalled to the antithesis that following this trail was dangerous or something. I wasn’t quite sure.

“These things are definitely useful,” I said quietly, not taking my eyes off the underbrush.

“Yeah… I really like ‘em. I think I already have an idea of what I want to focus on. Especially with my threads.” It was clear that Zuri was proud of herself, and I gave her a small smile.

“Talking about those threads, I still don’t understand how you can cut the aliens without cutting me. When you first got it earlier, you grazed me, but nothing happened.”

She nodded. “It’s kind of selective? The threads themselves are mono-molecular, but the glove does have some nanites that can move along the threads to wind themselves around it, which stops me from cutting you, for example. At least that’s how I understand how it works, not really sure on the exact details.”

“Those are some damn fast nanites.”

Zuri shrugged, “It’s some strange magnetic contraption that helps them move along the thread at speeds. Honestly, I barely understand half of it, but it works, so I’m not going to complain.”

I wasn’t sure if it was luck, or Zuri’s pheromone traps, but we managed to reach the shelter without running into any more aliens. The trees became more sparse, opening up to reveal the open area. The cobbled ground was a beehive of activity. There were still a few people shuffling into the open door leading to the shelter, helped along by some armed soldiers. PMC’s from their uniform, if I had to guess, not police.

The group behind me let out a collective sigh of relief, but I didn’t share it. Never celebrate victory unless you are back at base and debriefed. Most fail on the home stretch because they let their guard down early.

I couldn’t help but be a bit uncomfortable. The guards didn’t seem sloppy, and they very likely would be able to defend against the aliens in a pinch, but they also seemed tense. And their gear wasn’t exactly cheap. If any one of them mistook us for an alien, or got spooked enough to start firing randomly, it would very likely end badly and quick.

Zuri seemed far less worried, and quickly led our group closer, two of the guards already approaching. Both seemed alert, holding their rifle at the ready but with the barrel pointed towards the ground, which made me feel a little better. Once they got close enough, the first of the two gave us a nod, obviously checking us over. “Are you alright?”

“Kind of,” Zuri answered with a relieved smile. “Yurei and I were wounded, the rest are just in shock. We should be fine, though, got some nano stuff earlier.”

Despite the helmet the soldier wore, I could feel him glance us over more closely. “You’re Samurai?”

Zuri nodded. “Yes, we are, although we are new. We were out here on a college trip when we got surprised. If it wasn’t for Yurei, we’d be all dead.” She motioned to me with one hand.

The soldiers both looked me over once more, evidently adjusting their stance towards me. I ignored them both. They were very likely questioning Zuri’s comment, considering that I didn’t look physically impressive, although I got the feeling that me being covered in blood and alien goo from head to toe did wonders to convince them of the truth behind Zuri’s words.

“Alright. We don’t have any other Samurai close. The shelter is ready to close up, once we have everyone inside. The problem is we don’t know where the rest of the people are. At least two groups are unaccounted for, one being the diner, the other those from the market area. That one is a bit far away, but the diner is relatively close.”

From the way he spoke it was obvious that he wanted us to go and check that out, but he didn’t want to outright ask us either. It showed rather well how normal folk viewed Samurai. Most looked at Samurai as these hero figures, but everyone also knew that they could be very dangerous, especially if pissed off. It didn’t seem like these folk wanted to invite the wrath of the magister in case either of us was not in the mood to go helping folk.

Zuri, of course, didn’t seem to mind at all. She obviously picked up on their meaning and gave the man another friendly smile. “We can check, but I’m not sure we can head all the way out to the market area before more xenos show up. We aren’t exactly equipped for a long mission yet and I’d rather not invite disaster by overstaying our welcome.”

“That would be appreciated, ma’am,” the relief was palpable in the man’s voice. “We can get these people to safety, make sure nothing happens to them.”

Again Zuri nodded, and after a brief discussion with the elderly man, who had helped Zuri wrangle the group, the soldier waved a few of his men over. Leah, Sydney, Nia, and Cori discussed a few things with Zuri in hushed tones, although I didn’t pay too close attention. Instead I kept an eye on our surroundings, and on the soldier types, just in case any of them would try to start trouble or something. Unlikely, but you couldn’t ever be too careful.

Eventually, the soldiers began to lead the group towards the shelter, leaving Zuri and me behind. Only now did I finally let out a long sigh of relief, letting the tension flow out of me. Zuri gave me a warm smile, which helped tremendously with calming my nerves.

“You okay?” She stepped closer, giving me a gentle hug.

I reciprocated it, gently embracing her. Of course, I never took my attention away from our surroundings entirely. “Yeah… Just… a bit tense, is all. It’s been a long while since I had to deal with… armed folk.”

There was a long moment of silence in which she simply held me, gently grasping my right hand that was already instinctively going back to my left forearm. I was grateful for that. She knew just how to keep me calm and stop me from thinking about unpleasant things.

When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. There was worry there, entirely lacking the front of confidence she had put up earlier for the others. “Yurei, I’m sorry… I was so worried when you ran off… I’m so glad you made it.” She trembled slightly, and I immediately hugged her a little tighter.

Not knowing what to say, I kept quiet, offering my warmth to calm her down a bit. I really didn’t want to worry her, but I wasn’t about to apologise for making sure they were safe either. It helped to just be here with her, arm in arm, in the middle of the park. For all the insanity that had been going on, it made me feel so much better about it all.