Authors Note:

Welcome back to the next chapter of LOAK. A few things to note about this rewritten version is that it is going to be much grittier and a lot darker than my old one was shaping out to be. Commander Shepard in this version is female, and I have changed some slight things about the ME Universe to make it more my own for this story. Shepard in this story is in her early twenties, which is a bit young for her rank. I find it odd at how skilled Shepard is stated to be throughout the games and extended lore, and yet they don't get promoted sooner. In this Universe she is so skilled that she shot up the ranks rapidly. Anyway, onto the story.

Disclaimer: I own neither Mass Effect nor Destiny

OOOOOOO

"What do you consider a Guardian's true purpose?"

"What would I consider our purpose?"

"Yes."

"I would consider our purpose to be...um… well, we have many, but the chief purpose, or true purpose as you said, is to defend Humanity, as well as the Awoken and Exos I guess I should add."

"Not the Light? Ever since the foundation of the Vanguard a decade ago the main thing Guardians talk about saving is the Light."

"Well, they are delusional if they truly believe that. We all could still be in this boat if the Traveler never came to our system, or if he never created the Ghosts. In either case Guardians as we know them wouldn't exist. If the Light never came to us, and we still got to where we are now, people would rise up and defend what remains of us either way, even without the Light. The Light is simply the tool us Guardians use to make our job easier."

"So what you're saying is that Guardians would still be Guardians without the Light?"

"Yes. Though none of us current Guardians would exist since we would all still be dead. What makes up Guardians, the thing that truly makes us...us… is our willingness to fight and die to save innocent people, we can do that with and without the Light, should we somehow lose it, that will be the true test of whether or not we truly are Guardians. If someone quits because we don't have the Light, they are a fraud. If that person continue to fight for those who need to be defended without the Light, without the ability to resurrect, then they are truly a Guardian."

-News Interview with the first Hunter Vanguard Grant-

OOOOOOO

The rain was coming down in a torrential downpour, but Grant continued on, the cover of the trees managed to slow the rain a tiny bit, but not much. It has been an hour since he was blown through the gate. He had landed on this unknown planet in the middle of a forest. He had his Ghost activate a distress beacon before continuing through the dense trees. His armor was burned and scarred from the battle he had just exited, but he himself hasn't felt better for hundreds of years.

"{Guardian I am picking up comm signals coming into orbit. I can't understand the language, but I am working on downloading a translator they have on file.}"

"You are already into their database Ghost?"

"{Their encryption was pathetic, a Thrall could have gotten in with no problem.}"

Overhead, some shapes exited cloud cover, their spotlights reflecting off the rain as they started to fly low over the trees, they were obviously searching for him. The shapes were obviously gunships, but with an avian look to them. They were curved inwards in the middle, with small wings on either side of the main body.

"{They are heading towards a clearing a mile or so away from here.}"

Grant nodded. "That is where I am heading then."

The Hunter took off in a sprint, as a precaution, he quickly switched his armor's shade into a mottled green, brown, and grey color to help camouflage him, the shining silver of Stolen Chalice wouldn't help him at all. The purple flames of his helmet died down once more. As he ran through the woods he didn't make a sound, anyone watching from a distance of fifteen meters or more would have only seen a slight shadow pass in between trees before disappearing.

He reached the clearing in no time at all. The unknowns had already exited their gunships, their armor was red and black with a white skull painted on. Most of the aliens, as he could see now that they were aliens, had four eyes, two on top of another two. A few of them though were much larger than the four eyed ones, standing around seven and a half feet tall, with large humps making up the tallest part, their heads were hunched over, they looked like a giant mix of a toad and lizard.

"{Translation complete Guardian. Stand-by for comms}"

"-Comms check, reading green-"

The aliens began to read off their communications, making sure all were working properly, the English was damn near perfect thanks to the translator, but the voice was still clearly not human. Nearly all of the aliens now had helmets on, but some simply had visors.

"-Remember gents, when we find the man who set the beacon, capture him, we still owe the Hegemony for that botched slave grab.-"

"-Affirmative, capture, not kill, over.-"

Grant began to back up from the edge of the clearing. "Of course the aliens are hostile. They always fucking are."

Once he was a good distance away, Grant pulled out the No Land Beyond. His newfound enemy was ordered to capture him, he doesn't have that drawback. He rested the worn rifle within a low-hanging Y branch on a tree. The perks of the iron sight over a scope was tantamount here. The medium-long range was not too far as to make the target acquirable, and his helmet's HUD made up the difference. Also, without a scope the rain couldn't block his line of sight by constantly covering the glass.

He lined up the iron sight with the head of what appeared to be the Commander of the aliens, if the way he was ordering them around was any indication. Once the weapon was in line, his helmet showed the stats for the wind and rain, seeing them, Grant adjusted his weapon by a tiny bit. The sniper began to relax, fighting the adrenaline that began to build.

*Breath in*

*Breath out*

His hands steadied and his mind went blank except for the feeling and thought of the rifle. He was in a Zen-like state that he remembered was once famous amongst Guardians. During his time, nobody could match his sniping ability. Now though? Someone probably can, it has been hundreds of years.

Time seemed to flow in slow-motion just for him, his target moving slowly as if he was in molasses. One final cycle of breathing and he was ready. His finger tightened on the trigger, and he could feel every single motion that followed, him and the rifle were one. He felt the mechanisms turn and unlock within the gun, he felt the exact moment the round went off, he felt the recoil, and his body flowed with it. Many make the mistake of fighting the recoil, but that throws their aim off.

The round left the barrel, and he knew the shot was good, but as had been the norm for so long with the Guardian, the Universe decided to mess with him. Stepping out from beyond a tree the exact second he fired was another soldier, the man had been answering 'nature's call'. The round fired smashed through the aliens helmet like a hot knife through butter, the man's head split open from the impact of the shot, brain matter coating the inside of his helmet.

"FUCK!"

The shot had stirred up the hornet's nest. Immediately all of the aliens began to find cover, and a few shot were launched in his general direction. His Zen-like state crashed down as adrenaline rushed into his system. Picking up the rifle, he turned and ran further into the woods.

"-Where the hell did that come from!-"

"-THIS WAY FOLLOW ME-"

The sound of snapping twigs and bodies crashing through the undergrowth was clear enough evidence that he was being followed. Shots began to snap through the air around him as they began to catch up enough to see him.

CRACK

A small tree next to him snapped in half from the impact of a shot, the splinters flying at such a velocity his shields activated to stop them.

"-Remember! Shoot to wound! Not kill!-"

Activating the mini-thrusters in his boots, Grant double jumped into the trees above him. Hopping from branch to branch the Hunter quickly stopped, turned, and let off a snapshot towards a flash of motion he saw coming his way. A dull thump symbolized that the shot went true and his target was down.

A bright flash went off and dominated the surrounding landscape, a flare floating slowly through the air. With the light shining Grant could see his pursuers. The red on their armor was not helping them blend in. Letting off another quick shot that sent another alien into the darkness, Grant turned and took off once more into a dead sprint. Quickly dodging a grenade that was launched at him, he heard a large crack, and stumbled. A thick tree branch got lodged in his metallic leg. He quickly snapped it before taking off once more.

"I need to fill in that hole. It makes a weak spot."

The trees were beginning to clear out. The landscape became more and more rocky and steep. A heavy object slammed into his side. Going with his momentum, his shoulder smashed sharply into the ground, but he kept going, quickly somersaulting over until he was crouched with one knee on the ground, and the other simply bent, with the sole of his foot on the ground. Standing before him was the alien that tried to tackle him.

"Heh heh heh Not so tough now are ya Human? I was beginning to think you might actually be a threat! HA!" The lizard-like zeno laughed. The giant reached behind his back and pulled out a giant Warhammer.

The Guardian didn't bother to respond. Faster than the alien could react, Grant quickly drew Outlaw's Gambit and fired, his hand drawing back the hammer before each shot. Six shot collided with the creature's helmet, cracking it open after punching through its shields. Each shot that hit the helmet made the crack larger and larger as the impact of the rounds increased.

The Hunter's opponent simply laughed at him. The lizard rushed him and swung its' hammer, which the Human quickly ducked under before drawing his combat knife and slicing it through the back of the creature's knee, forcing it into a stumble. His enemy charged at him once more, and again he ducked beneath the attack, this time kick his leg out into his enemy's leg. He heard a snap as the leg broke from the impact. This time the beast went down. Before it could get back up Grant planted his metal leg on its' chest, some prongs on his foot bent inwards and punctured into the armor, planting a firm foothold on the alien's chest.

The alien beneath the Hunter began to squirm to try and get out from beneath him, but failed as the more he struggled, the more pressure the Nightstalker put into his leg. The sound of ribs cracking resounded around the area, but the sounds of his pursuers catching up quickly covered it. Without saying a word, he shot a round through the squirming alien's head, ending the cocky bastard's life.

No even sparing a glance towards the latest kill in the Hunter's count he took off, the end of the forest was in sight, but the slavers chasing him were gaining ground, he took too long removing that threat. As he broke tree cover he saw a cliff ahead of him, with a crevice splitting it in two, he began to run toward that location. When he was halfway there, Grant glanced over his shoulder and saw his followers breaking the tree line. With a line of sight reestablished the rounds began to fly around him once more, turning on his heel he let off three hip shots with the Gambit and two snipers fell, once moaning while another was ominously still. His third shot missed.

With them slowed once more, Grant made it into the crevice and kept running, steep rock walls on either side of him. He was running through the crevice for about a minute before he ran into a dead end that had rocks overhanging. Mixed with the storm, the dead end was pitch black. Turning once more, Grant waited for the fools to follow him. With a quick word to Ghost, his armor changed back into the gleaming steel color of Stolen Chalice. He began to draw void energy forward, balling it in his hands, then he waited, unable to be seen in the darkness, even with the silver shader.

OOOOOOO

The thump of the Mako hitting the ground was familiar to her by this point, having completed multiple missions since becoming the first Human Spectre. She had been plotting a course for their next destination when Admiral Hackett contacted her and told her of a distress beacon on this planet. When the Normandy had arrived they found a cargo freighter that had been modified by mercenaries in orbit. Not having enough time to clear the freighter and get down to the man who was obviously getting chased, she sent Kaidan with Ashley and Tali to clear it out while she took Wrex and Garrus down to help on the surface.

"- Comms Check: How are you doing down there Commander? -" Kaidan's voice appeared over the comms.

Responding quickly, Commander Shepard said, "We just got down here, following the sounds of gunfire right now. Good luck up there."

"- Roger that Commander -"

The next minutes went by in silence, behinds the groaning protests of the Mako at her driving. Annika Shepard became infamous with her crew for her poor driving. Luckily for her ground team, the trees quickly became too dense to continue driving the Mako through.

Turning towards her two squad mates she told her plan. "Garrus, I want you to take the Mako around the forest and meet us on the other side while Wrex and I follow the path they took through the trees."

"Sure thing Shepard."

Trading places with the Turian, she and Wrex left the Mako and proceeded into the trees, the sounds of the Mako drifting further away. Gunfire still echoed through the air, the only other sound was the rain.

"What do you think this guy's chances of being alive are?" She asked Wrex, trying to break the silence.

"Slim to none. The Blood Pack has a whole ship up there. No singular man could hold against that many for long." The Krogan Battlemaster grumbled.

"Maybe he got lucky?"

"Look kid, you may be a Spectre now but you still have a lot to learn about how things work around the galaxy. The Blood Pack is brutal, I only said he had a slim chance of being alive because they might have decided to capture him and sell him into slavery. The distress beacon identified him as Human, your species isn't strong enough for a man to single handedly hold off a fuck ton of Batarians and Krogan."

Annika didn't respond beyond nodding her head. She was frustrated that Wrex was telling the truth, and that he called her kid, although she was technically in his eyes. She is the youngest Alliance Commander yet, and one of the youngest Spectres at age 22. Her incredible skill with Biotics, and uncanny leadership abilities launched her through the ranks.

Wrex lifted his shotgun. "Body ahead."

Entering a clearing the found what was obviously the Blood Pack's landing site, scorch marks burned the ground from where gunships landed. Near the far side of the clearing however, was what looked to be a Batarian, hard to tell though since the alien's head was gone, brain matter and blood in puddles around the body.

Pulling out her pistol, she motioned for Wrex to move forward. The two soldiers began to run as they advanced through the forest. The gunfire from up ahead was gone. As they sprinted through the trees, the bodies of mercs were spread out. Whoever was running still had managed to get shots in.

After a few more minutes of running they came across the corpse of a Krogan. What shocked them though was that the Krogan had knife wounds on him. The man they were pursuing managed to defeat a Krogan at knife fight range, though he finished him off with a gun.

"Huh. Guess the crazy bastard might have a chance to be alive after all." Her Krogan companion grumbled to himself.

One final gunshot cracked through the air, and all was quiet again except for the rain.

The trees were thinning quite rapidly, and soon they exited the forest to a scene from a warzone. A gunship was flaming on the ground with a hole punched through its' side. Bodies were scattered around, all centered on the crevice that was in the cliff ahead of them. The sound of the Mako rolling up symbolized Garrus' arrival to the scene.

"Howdy Shepard, found a short-cut about a mile away from where we split up." The ex-cop called out while exiting the Mako.

"Glad you could make it in time Garrus!" The N-7 rebutted.

Wrex had walked up to a Batarian that was leaning against a tree. He was obviously the Commander if the armor was anything to go by. Wrex pulled a chip out of the merc's helmet, obviously a combat recorder. But seeing the face of the Batarian froze as a cold feeling gripped her heart.

Garrus walked up to her. "You alright Shepard?"

"He… he was on Mindoir."

"Shit."

Mindoir was the Alliance's biggest failure, and Annika's worst memory. She was fifteen when the attack happened. And she remembers everything the Batarians did to her before the Marines broke through. Everything this Batarian did. He led the squad that killed her mother and older brother in front of her. And did more.

"Shepard?"

She sighed, hoping her voice wouldn't brake. "Let's just say that when I was defending Elysium, I imagined every Batarian I killed was this one. Enough moping. Let us see what the recording will show us."

With her face practically set in stone, she set off towards the Mako. The Batarian was dead, and the galaxy was better for it. After she had become Spectre she had a computer added to the Mako that could play data files and videos that they came across during missions without having to go back to the Normandy.

As she started the recording, she fast forwarded through the areas they have already been, she only wanted to see what happened after the forest. Wrex and Garrus got into the Mako as well. Once they exited the woods in the video, she played the recording.

OOOOOOO

"- There the bastard is! -"

"- Get him! -"

"- LOOK OUT! -"

The man being pursued had stopped, turned around, and shot down some mercs before taking off again. The cloak disappearing into the crevice.

"- Sir! -"

The camera turns looking at an approaching man.

"- The gunship is up above, the pilot is saying that the ravine is a dead end. We have him trapped! -"

The camera bobbed up and down as the wearer nodded. A hand came into view, the recorder's hand, and pointed to half the men with him.

"- You all are with me! We are not giving him a chance to set up a trap! -"

"- Yessir! -"

The group of mercenaries entered the cliff, rocky walls towering above them on either side. The camera went through twists and turns as they traversed the winding path. At multiple increments men stopped moving with the group, setting up checkpoints as they went along, in case the target made it through.

"- This is the last turn sir. -"

A nod was all that answered as the Commander and six other men turned the corner.

"- It is over Human! Surrender and we just might let you live! -"

A voice called over from a cave at the end of the path.

"- Not gonna happen. Any last words? -"

The men surrounding the camera laughed, the laughter stopped when in the darkness, purple flames erupted, illuminating the man's helmet. A deep purple bow formed within the man's hands as he began to run toward the mercenaries. He jumped, drew the bow, and the Commander turned and ran before the target could launch. When the camera was around the corner, facing three more mercs, the sound of the arrow hitting a soldier resounded through the rocks, and gunfire erupted.

The new mercs with the Commander raised their guns as the sounds got closer, before one of their own became visible at the turn. He was glowing purple as a stream of energy seemed to tie him to something on the other side of the wall. Bullets began to tear through the man, his body jerking with each shot before he simply dissolved into purple ash. The sound of sprinting and metal colliding on rocks got louder, before from around the corner came the Human man, jumping between the walls a few meters above them. The bow formed once more in his hands as he shot it between the defenders, the Commander started to run again, looking over his shoulder at the battle he was fleeing. The Human landed on the ground in a somersault, while in the roll, two shots erupted from him, dissolving two of the Batarian mercs. The last merc standing swung his rifle like a club trying to hit the evasive man. The intended target ducked underneath it, grabbed the mercenary's arm and and flipped the man over his shoulder, a snap sounding as the unfortunate soul's arm broke. A single shot tore through his head before the vision was obscured by the rock wall.

The Commander continued to run through the rocks, hearing the sound of the Human chasing him. Short bursts of gunfire before silence followed. Grenades went off and cries of pain echoed throughout the ravine. Coming upon the last set of mercs before the exit, the five men there stood up and raised their weapons. The second their target turned the corner, they opened fire. The shots missing as the man slid, his arm drawing back, and then flying forward, a knife glimmered through the air before embedding itself in the neck of mercenary, who promptly lit on fire and disintegrated. The sniper rifle the Human used earlier was back in his hands as he swung it like a club into the head of another man, his neck snapping from the impact. A loud bang came from the rifle as it fired, taking the head off another Blood Pack merc. With only two left, the Commander stopped firing and began to run once more, turning in time to see the metal hand of the Human dig into the helmet of a merc before ripping the thing right off the four-eyed alien's head, a knife to the head killed the Human's newest victim. The last man standing of the defense point looked to the Commander in fear and betrayal before the Human drew his oversized pistol and shot four times. Each one taking out an eye of the unfortunate Batarian. Blood spattered across the rocks and some made it to the camera.

The camera was dark for a few seconds, but the blood was then wiped off, and the grassy area outside the cliff was in sight. All of the mercenaries left and the Commander stood, ready to remove the threat. A gunship came out of the sky and trained its' weapons on the rocks. And a minute later, the Human walked out. His silver colored armor had burn marks and scars all over it, none of them could have been from the battle they were just in. His flaming helmet stared menacingly at the mercenaries.

"- Don't just stand there, Kill HIM! -"

Right as the words were said, the Human seemed to light on fire, and with a flaming gun, took one shot at the Gunship, which burst into flames with a hole driven right through the middle. Two more shots ripped out, and the last Krogan of the group exploded into fire, which as it touched the other mercs lite them on fire, causing some to explode as well. The flames died and a rifle was in the Human's hands, gunfire causing the man's shield to flare again and again. The Human advanced, his cloak rippling in the wind behind him as three-round bursts exited his rifle, each killing a merc. Their weapons had no effect on the man. The mercs were dead and only the Commander remained. The camera moved backwards, showing that the Commander was backing up once more from the killer in front of him.

"- Please don't! I can pay you as much as you want! Just don't kill me please! -"

The Human kept advancing.

"- Why would I do that? I wouldn't have gotten mercy. It was death or slavery for me. -"

In a flash of light the man's helmet was off. Pale skin, jet black hair and golden eyes staring right into the camera. The huge revolver was in his hand once more, the barrel starting just below the camera, and a shot went off. The camera looked down and before the recording stopped, the hole in the Batarians' chest was clearly visible.

OOOOOOO

The Mako was silent. The recording had shown them a man with a certain combat potential they have never seen before. The man they just watched slaughtered an entire company of hardened Blood Pack mercenaries as if they were nothing.

Garrus was the first to speak, "That was…"

"Not my best."

Annika's head snapped towards the front of the Mako, where, with his feet resting on the controls, was the man that they had just seen in the video. How he got in there, she had no fucking clue.

Garrus looked between the two. The Commander had a dumbfounded expression on her face, while he couldn't see the man's face through the helmet. "How the fuck did you get in here?"

The man was flipping a knife with one hand, catching it by the blade each time. "I hopped in when you guys were looking at good ol' four eyes over there. Figured getting in could go one of two ways. Either I stay cloaked until we reach civilization, or you guys can prove yourselves to not be on the same side as those bastards out there, and thus I would show myself. You can see which option was picked."

Shepard's shocked look turned into one of suspicion. "How do we know that we can trust you?"

The knife stopped flipping. The helmet turned to stare directly at her. It was a bit unnerving to the Commander. "You can't yet. But I would think it's a good start that I haven't shot you in the back while you were watching that."

Annika thought for a minute. While it is true that he hasn't attacked them, he could be trying to give them a false sense of security. Even now she could see subtle signs that he was on guard and prepared to attack. The Commander saw through the relaxed position the man was sitting in. She could see that the hand holding the knife was angled toward Garrus, and he was sitting in such a way that the revolver on his hip was easily accessible. None of that caution seemed directed towards her though, for reasons she didn't understand.

Making a decision, she decided to trust him enough to take him to civilization. After this mission they were going to Noveria anyway. She could drop him off there. "Before we leave can you tell us your name?"

"Grant. And your name?"

"Commander Annika Shepard. It's a pleasure to meet you." She reached out her hand and Grant took it. She could tell from his body language that he understood she didn't totally mean the second part. Trust isn't easily given after all. Grant moved out of her driver's seat and she took his place. After a quick call to Joker telling him that they were ready for pick-up, silence reigned in the Mako. A glance over her shoulder showed the tense atmosphere that was in the vehicle. Both of her squad mates were attempting to avoid looking at the temporary addition to their crew, while he kept his hand on his weapon at all times.

"This is going to be a long drive"

OOOOOOO

She was staring at him again. It had been thirty minutes since he got on board this ship, the two aliens and the Human woman left. The spiky one was working on modifications to the APC that dominated the cargo bay. Ever since he got here, that woman at the weapons bench periodically turned toward him and simply stared. It was getting quite annoying.

"What the hell is your problem?" He barked out at her.

She jumped slightly, startled by his question. The overgrown lizard's head turned their direction, and the bird stopped working on the vehicle. After shaking off her shock she retorted in a slightly hostile voice.

"Just trying to figure you out. You have weapons and armor never seen before, abilities the likes of which have never been experienced, there was no crash sites on the planet so I don't understand how you got stuck down there, and you managed to defeat a whole detachment of Blood Pack by yourself, and yet you act as if we are the weird ones!"

He looked at her for a moment after the rant. "Uh huh. Alrighty then."

"Where'd you get the leg and hand?"

The Hunter's head snapped over to the overgrown lizard, Wrex was his name. "None of your damn business where I got them."

Grant knew he was being slightly hypocritical, with his asking what their problem was, while he was being quite aggressive himself. Even if he had wanted to tell him, what would he say?

'Oh I got them from the Vault of Glass, an ancient fortress of a species known to warp time and space.'

That wouldn't work at all. The Nightstalker is just hoping now that they get to their destination before he gets asked anymore questions.

As if the Traveler itself was listening to his thoughts, the elevator dinged right then and out of it came the Commander.

"Alright everyone we are on Noveria, Ashley you are going to be a part of the team for this mission, can you go get Liara?"

"Sure thing Commander."

Shepard turned in his direction and started walking towards him.

"You are free to go, though you might want to find a way to hide your weapons, you won't have Spectre authority on the planet with you."

"Won't be an issue. Thanks for the lift." Grant replied as he stepped into the elevator, the doors closing and taking him up to the exit of the vessel.

"Time to find out where Jerome and Evie got to."

OOOOOOO

Halfway across the galaxy, on a criminal owned space station, a portal opened in a dark alley, and spit out two beings, before closing once more.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading the newest chapter of LOAK, leave a review if you have any questions or comments and I will try to respond within the next chapter. Until next time.