Radiance

Chapter 69 (Giggity): Spring in Their Steps.

Corporal Fuller checked his weapon for the eighth time in the last minute, he was a professional and he took that professionalism very very seriously, it gave a healthy in his opinion dose of paranoia and he lived by the code of check and test check and test then when your happy check and test again.

He had been the Red team's sniper since he had been appointed to the ESF or Enclave Special Forces and it was a constant source of pride for him as he had worked fucking hard to obtain that position as many soldiers applied for this honoured posting but very very few ever made it in as the Enclave took their security and safety very seriously and applications, as well as the physical requirements to get in, were incredibly high so most just couldn't make the cut.

Fuller was also the youngest member of the team having only been a member for six months, most of the team had been members for years as entry to these teams tended to be operated on a dead man's boots situation, so you could only get in when an existing member died or retired though very few got to the age where option two was applicable, especially these days where hostility was absolutely everywhere.

He glanced around at the team which while made up of eight members only six were present, it was made up of six men and two women, each of them having a specialisation which allowed them to operate pretty much anywhere unsupported, Fuller himself was the team's sniper.

"I don't like this, command isn't usually this hush hush when they send us out, must be something big though, wonder if it's got anything to do with those two hits we took down in DC recently?" Corporal Jackson the team's electronic warfare expert said leaning back in her chair and folding her well-muscled arms behind her head and glancing at Fuller.

He nodded in agreement, "Yeah was wondering that myself, heard through the grapevine the sec boys down there took a royal beating, heard we even lost that FOB we were setting up down there, bet command is pissed about that, somebody even said those townsfolk got themselves an army of fucking Death Claws, can you believe that shit?" Fuller said and Jackson nodded.

"Yeah heard that too, pretty fucked up if you asked me but from what I heard they ain't gonna touch that place now, too much fucking risk and yeah I can see that if they really do get those Claws on a leash then we gonna lose a lotta good people trying to take it back and for what? Some hick town? Better to move on and find someplace, we'll just come back later on and we got more people and just fucking steam roller the place," Jackson said and Fuller nodded.

Suddenly the door opened with a hiss and two figures strode in causing the entire team to jump to their feet and snapped to attention, the two figures commanded the respect of this elite team with just their mere presence because they had earned the right to lead it.

Sargent Riley was a tall and incredibly solid black man in his early forties with a set of eyes that could tear a man's soul from his body with a single look while at the same time being large enough that he looked like he was wearing power armour before he even put it on.

Next to him was a much smaller figure but one that commanded no less respect and that was Luitenant Fletcher, a six-foot-tall blonde woman who looked like her ancestors were Vikings by her white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, to look at her you probably wouldn't think she was one of the best tactical minds that the Enclave had but having seen her in action against raiders, the Brotherhood and countless other enemies the Enclave had, she had not once failed to complete her objective.

"At ease people, take a seat this is going to be an interesting one," Fletcher said gesturing to the seats and the team dropped into their seats while Fletcher and the Sarge stepped up to the front of the room and started up a projector and inserted a holotape into it.

"Ok people we got ourselves a mixed mission, it's a part snatch and grab half search and destroy, now I'm pretty sure you heard about the ass-kicking we took down in DC already as I know no news travels faster than bad news, you oder new boots and it takes six months for them to find the paperwork but you fart in a conference room and someone in a satellite station across the country will tell you how it tastes before your fucking ring puckers the fuck back up," Fletcher said making a few of them chuckle.

She clicked a button and on the screen flashed a few images of bodies piled high, of burnt-out power armour suits which were blatantly their older X-01 models, "Yeah this is what they did, so as you can see we are not dealing with amateurs, we are dealing with professionals, these guys are terrorists plain and simple and they are very good at it, they are smart and they are careful but not only that they are brutal, this is their leader," she said pressing a button and the image changed to an image of a rather handsome man but the image was pretty grainy as it was taken through a long-range telephoto lens most likely through an Eyebot.

"This is Number Seven, that right you heard me correctly, now I'm sure you have probably heard the whispers floating around about the myth of this man, well here he is ladies and gentleman, now other than the power armour you would probably be forgiven for thinking he doesn't look like much but I can tell you here and now this man is the most dangerous you will ever set eyes upon and I can tell you this, pray you see him before see's you or he will be the last thing you ever see, you see Number Seven here is part of a group that was created by Dr Chalmers of the Advanced Bio-Weapons and Psyonics department, that's right people Number Seven here is a living bio-weapon, he is for one in possession of Telekinesis which for those who did not know means Mr Seven here can interact with the world with nothing more than his mind," Fletcher said in a very grim tone of voice.

Fuller could hear the shock and the tension in the sharp intake of breaths from his team, but Fletcher wasn't done, not by a long shot, "Now put frankly we as good as we have no chance against this dude, we simply aren't trained or equipped to deal with this guy or the other one who is part of this, ladies and gents may I introduce to you to Number Three and if you thought Number Seven bad then this girl is worse, now we have no current pictures of her so this is all we have and with good reason, because you see her body is just a shell, Number Three can become non-corporeal which is to mean she can become a fucking cloud of smoke, but not only that she had a real talent for being able to infiltrate both machines and even people, yeah you heard me right, she can take control of machines and people so she is not someone with which you want to fuck add on top of that being a cloud of gas she's basically unkillable," Fletcher said.

A hand went up down the row and Fletcher gestured to them, Fuller recognised it as McKay's very softly spoken but incredibly strong man who was taken from the NCR and used to be a Ranger, he was the team's tracking and hunting specialist, he was a one-man tracking beacon.

"So how in the name of God are we supposed to deal with these people and didn't you address them by a number, not a name? Does that mean that they are ours?" he asked, he was also an incredibly observant fucker, to say the least.

"Gold star there McKay, yes indeed these two were born of the very same department that is sending us on this job so yeah it falls to us to clean up their mess but it also means we gotta cart around two of them but I don't want any animosity towards these two for the simple reason they are the only people that are gonna stand between us and them, trust me when I say we are gonna need them because we are going to be fucking busy with the rest of the team because check this out," Fuller said clicking the image again so it changed to one of a large group that seemed to be made up of a multitude of species all gathered together.

"Let me introduce you to Seven and Three's team, you have DeathClaws, what looks like a NightStalker, a Supermutant and no-one has a fucking clue what this spider thing is but what I can tell you is these guys are as dangerous as it gets, these guys took down Paradise falls and the witness reports read like a goddamn action book, Seven turned himself into some kind of pissed of Angel and flattened the place like a living nuclear bomb, they didn't lose a single person or creature, from what we've heard the DeathClaws they have are sentient and are able to speak English, but don't let that fool you they are as deadly as it gets, think about it, the lethal abilities of a Deathclaw with the ability to think, reason and plan, yeah just let that think in, an animal that could possibly out think you, this is why we are going after them, our orders are simple, we are to attempt to capture anyone we can but we have standing kill orders on all of them except Number Seven and Number three, these are the only two who we cannot touch and honestly I don't want anything to do with anyone who can turn me into a soda can inside my armour with a single thought, so we are going to leave Number Eight and Number Nine to deal with them, while we deal with the rest of them, so lets grab your gear and armour and head to hanger number twelve, they gave us an MCV for this one as we are gonna be out until the job is done or we are it's that simple, we are wheels up in thirty so make it quick, alright people dismissed," Fletcher said and with that she and the Sarge headed for the locker room with everyone else in tow.

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Seven and Visa walked into the lobby of the house and Visa had a real swish in her tail and a spring in her step, as did Vess who appeared with Chris a few moments after them, "Good morning auntie you look happy this morning," Visa said with a sly smile that flashed between the pair.

"I feel wonderful this morning and it's all thanks to my beautiful human here, I haven't felt this good in years, hell I almost forgot what it felt like to have a real swish in your tail and now I see why both of you and Ven's tail's swish so much, you were absolutely right out this human love thing," Vess said happily.

"Glad you think so and now Passa's skipping this morning make's sense, I thought he was actually dancing for a bit and walking behind him is a nightmare now because I'm having to play jump rope with his tail," Shepherd said from her right suddenly and Vess turned to look and then as if waiting for his cue Passa emerged from the kitchens humming a happy tune to himself and actually dancing while carrying a Claw sized mug of coffee.

That's when he noticed them all looking at him and he stopped, "What? Is there something on my scales?" he asked.

"Actually something is missing from them," Shepherd said heading over to the confused-looking Claw boy and he looked down at himself.

"What?" he asked looking around.

"Me," she said pulling him into a deep kiss right in front of all of them which obviously made Vess a little jealous as well as Visa because one after the other they each turned to their own human and grabbed them lifting them into a deep kiss as well.

Ven and Gregory wandered in during this little snogfest and they looked at each couple in turn before looking at one another and shrugging in unison before Ven snatched Gregory off his feet and pushed his entire tongue into his mouth locking him into a deep passionate kiss.

After the impromptu snogfest, each of the Claws placed down their human mate and they all walked hand in claw into the main lobby of the house where they found the rest of the team was already gathered.

"So what's the plan now then boss?" Wisp asked from her favourite lounging spot on the back of Malakai's abdomen.

"Simple it's time to get back on the road again, as nice as it would be to stay here for a few days I do not think it would be wise, the Enclave will not be pleased about the loss of their FOB and sticking around here will not do us any favours, so our best bet would be to continue on our way out towards Boston, now we have the cargo Vertibird things should be a lot easier for us well as long as we don't get shot down again," Seven said with a smile.

"How much fuel have we got let in the big girl?" Wisp asked looking at Gregory.

"Enough to make there but not any further than that, lets pretty much tap out the tanks and those are some pretty damn big tanks, so unless we figure out somewhere to refuel her along the way she'll get us to the outskirts of the Boston area and we're on foot from there," Gregory said thoughtfully.

Seven nodded, "Well that'll have to do then won't it?" he said.

"What's the plan when we get down there?" Vess asked curiously as she stoked Chris's hair with her claws gently as he sat proudly in her lap on one of the large couches that she was currently taking up all of, it very much seemed to Seven that he had accepted the life as a Claw lover and little nuances of it.

"Well I'm guessing there are a few things we can do when we get down there, one thing that might be worth looking into is those synthetics that that institute place is supposed to be sending out, didn't those rumours you and Riss overheard say something about them being sentient so if that's the case and this institute is using them as some kind of slave labour then that's gonna stop right away, another thing I also think we should look into is what they were also saying about those Avian people that were duking it out with the Brotherhood down there, something tells me we might be able to help maybe broker a peace of some kind," Seven said and he saw lots of nodding heads except for one, Faith.

"Peace with the Brotherhood?" she asked obviously very sceptically and Seven nodded.

"That's the ideal outcome yes, look I know you don't like the Brotherhood and nor do you have any reason to really, but I have to believe that there are good people within their ranks, people like Timothy here, people who can be made to see reason and if we can reach those people then maybe just maybe we can set in motion a change, at the very least I think we should have to try," Seven said.

"Well I don't like it and I'm not going to pretend I do, I've seen the Brotherhood chase off and even kill my brothers and sisters, even those they supposedly 'tolerate' they are openly racist towards as far as they are concerned we are no better than animals, they simply don't care a single fuck that we are still sentient beings, hell we are still human underneath this but they don't care about this, to them this world should be for humans and no-one else, the only way you are going to change that is to show them in a language they will fully understand, force, show them that their actions and attitudes will have consequences, bad ones and then and only then will they reconsider their stance on things," she said.

Seven glanced and Timothy and to his surprise he found him nodding, "Care to chime in here?" he asked.

"Hate to say it but Faith is right, now I'm not saying we all out have to attack or go to war with the Brotherhood in fact I'm hoping to Christ that we don't have to but at the same time I am a realist, the Brotherhood don't back down or back off unless they are made to, so if we want to help these people we are going to have to show the Brotherhood in no uncertain terms that any aggression will not only be met like for like but with a force that they cannot or do not want to handle, that's the only way to force them to talk," Timothy said definitely surprising Seven but he nodded in understanding.

"Well I'd like to see what this thing about a new breed of Claws up at that place you humans call Nukaworld, as memory serves that's also up there somewhere," Ven said.

"Well then sounds like we got a pretty solid basis for a plan, once those things are done I think we should start thinking about a place where we can go that's going to be out of range of the Enclave, that was always the plan, to begin with, and I don't think it should change because to take out an organization that size with those kind of resources we'd need a fucking army, better would be to find a place that they simply have no influence over but do as much good as we can on our way there," Seven said and the others looked thoughtful and then nodded in agreement.

"Well then let's get moving," Seven said and the team broke up to pack up.

Chris took Vess up to meet his mother and sister so that he could introduce them and to say a final goodbye, he asked Seven and Visa to accompany them so that he could easily show how a human and Claw love could work, well it worked and while they were shocked at first it didn't take Chris's mother long to really see just how much Vess loved and cared for her son so a very touching scene where an emotional mother handed over the care of her only son to Vess and made her promise her to care for him, love him and protect him on their journey, which an equally emotional Vess promised her wholeheartedly plus Seven couldn't help but love both the emotional and tearful Claws was adorable.

Once that was done the entire town actually turned out to see the group off and Seven felt rather embarrassed and self-conscious standing on the tail of the cargo Vertibird waving like royalty, hell even the feral claws had turned up to wave them off thus cementing in Seven's mind that despite the fact that they could not speak they were every bit as smart as any of them, especially by the way Ricky Claw and his little friend were both waving them goodbye, now he just had to figure out where to stash all the meat they'd been given as thanks.

"Alright people let's get this bird in the air and let's get on our way," Seven said stepping out of his power armour before attempting to drop into his seat though he never actually made it because before his arse touched the cloth seat he felt a large scaly hand appear around his waist and he was promptly yanked right into Visa's lap which turned out to be equipped with a long scaly seatbelt made out of her massive tail which was promptly dropped into his lap to hold in place and to be stroked, this was going to be a nice trip.

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"Ok people listen up we've just received some intel from HQ, it seems one of those weird talking supercomputers they got over there tasked a satellite and it just got a hit, it looks like they got their hands on a cargo Vertibird so it looks like our initial hunch was right, they did steal a vehicle from that bunker so that explains how they were able to get from DC itself all the way out there so fast, we're tracking it right now and the projections are putting them on a heading to Boston and to say they got a serious lead on us is a fucking understatement, they will have been on the ground for at least six hours before we get anywhere close to the place, so we are really going to have to amp up our game here," Fletcher said pointing at some very grainy satellite photos on the projector screen in the back of the MCV.

"Any idea why they are headed to Boston boss?" Fuller asked and the Luitenant shook her head.

"Not as of yet no but we do believe by their travel pattern since they escaped initially this may have been their intended target all along, though what it is they are seeking down there is a bit of a mystery, unfortunately, this area is going to be pretty fucking hostile for us, we are very thin on local assets, to say the least, and there are numerous groups at play in the area though at least for the most part they are pretty hostile towards one another as well, the Brotherhood of Steel are down there though we are not sure who the new Elder is down there after Maxim screwed the pooch and got himself killed, as well as them there is a very well organised militia group that call themselves the Boston Minutemen operating in the area though from what our local assets report they have a great many settlements that need help, it's almost like they just kept relying on one guy to do all the work for them or something," Fletcher said scratching her chin.