Radiance Ch. 111

As Varrel glanced down at their new captor he noticed that those smoke-like wings of his had returned and were broiling off his back again and they transfixed him with awe and curiosity, this was no normal human they were dealing with here, just what the hell was he and who was he?

That's when the two invisible bubbles containing the two siblings began to move and suddenly Varrel knew exactly how a wasp stuck under an upturned glass must have felt, stuck inside an invisible barrier that it did not understand but also could not escape from.

The pair were floated down to just above the armoured figure's head and now he had been joined by the two female Deathclaws who were both looking up at them in shock.

"Are those...Cazadors?" the smaller of the two Deathclaws asked turning her horned head to look at the armoured human.

"Nasty wasps sting bad, Seven should squish like nasty biting worms!" the larger of the two Deathclaws who kinda looked like an overgrown alligator said before banging her massive tail on the ground with a boom to emphasise her point.

"No! Please don't!!" Vizzy yelled and all three of them and all of the gathered captive human slaves all stared up at them in disbelief.

"Wasps can speak!!" the alligator-like Deathclaw exclaimed.

"They are also wearing bomb collars so it seems that someone caught them and enslaved them, hmmmm looks like we might have a mutual enemy on our hands here," the armoured human said and with that he lowered the two invisible bubbles to the ground moving his hands in time with the movements.

Varrel felt his feet touch the ground but he was still aware of the field around him even though could not see it he could see the way it affected the dust of the ground like it was making a perfect ring around them both.

"What are your names?" the armoured human asked stepping closer to them and seemingly inspecting them closely.

"My name is Varrel and this is my twin sister Vizzy, we are not your enemy and we did not come here with hostile intentions towards either yourselves or the humans you are attempting to free," Varrel said.

"My brother speaks the truth we came here because we were looking for you," Vizzy said and the armoured human turned to look at her now.

"Oh? And why were you looking for us exactly?" he asked curiously his voice oddly calm and pleasant.

"We need your help," Vizzy said her confidence seemingly faltering by how quiet and shakey her voice went under his stare.

"I'm going to hazard a guess it has something to do with those vile contraptions around your necks correct?" the armoured human said.

"Correct, our entire hive was wiped out by a raider gang, we were the only ones who survived though honestly I wish it were not the case because ever since that foul day we have been slaves no different to these humans here, locked in a cage and used as nothing more than tools," Varrel said and the armoured human turned back to him.

"What were they using you for exactly?" he asked and Varrel felt himself baulk at that question because admitting the truth here could be a dangerous step to take.

But something told him that this human was nothing like the ones who had taken them captive, he did not know why but he felt like he could trust him.

"As trackers, our sense of smell is far more sensitive than that of a human or indeed just about any mammal, so they would use us to track down runaway slaves," Varrel explained and the armoured human nodded.

"Makes sense, from what I know of Cazadors they can smell their prey over incredible distances and have an uncanny sense of direction to boot so my guess is you belong to the group that held the last slave town we hit and now they've sent you after us correct?' the armoured human said.

Varrel nodded, "Yes but we did not lead them to you, we were part of a large group the boss sent out to investigate the slave hive and we smelled your friend there as well as that armour of yours even before we entered but after we saw what we did we knew you were no mere raider grabbing the slaves for yourselves, you were different, so when the leader of the group sent out sent us out with a smaller group we convinced them that we'd tracked the slaves to a cave a cave that happened to be filled with very grump and hungry yau gaoi," Varrel said.

That's when the armoured human did something rather unexpected, he burst out laughing.

"Oh I like it, leading the raiders into a cave filled with angry bears, smart move so I assume you used the chaos to slip their net and make a break for it?" he said and Varrel nodded but before he could speak again Vizzy got there first buzzing her wings as she spoke.

"Yes we tracked you to that armoured hive of yours but we were too scared to enter so we waited for you to come out but then we saw you and your two Deathclaw comrades fly off so we followed you and here we are," she said.

The armoured human nodded his head and then with a wave of his hands Varrel felt the bubbles surrounding them vanish leaving them free again, or well as free as one could be with a high explosive device strapped around your neck anyway.

"My name is Seven, this here is the love of my life Visa proud Alpha Claw of the Northen pack and this is Thundertail of the Safari Zone Gatorclaw pack and we represent the Free Peoples of the Wastes, we are a group made up of all people and all species dedicated to not only freeing people from tyranny but bringing them together regardless of who they are or where they come from," the armoured human said offering Varrel a hand in what appeared to be that human gesture of peace he'd seen.

Varrel simply couldn't believe it, the humans that his queen had always spoken of, the ones that she had always hoped and prayed were out there somewhere, they were right here right now, standing before him, they had come to Nukaworld at last.

Varrel cautiously took hold of Seven's armoured hand and the man's armoured fingers closed around his hand giving it a shake, "It is very good to meet you Varrel and you too Vizzy," he said releasing Varrel's hand and turning to offer it to his sister who took it after glancing at her brother.

"So what happens now?" Vizzy asked suspiciously.

"Simply you join the queue right there and we'll get those vile fucking things off you, after that it's up to you come with us or go your own way, that's kinda the joy of freedom really, you get to go where you please," Seven said and somehow Varrel could actually feel him smiling underneath the rather intimidating yet oddly familiar helmet, maybe it was the shape of the eyepieces.

"What and that's it? No cost no reimbursement?" Vizzy exclaimed in shock and surprise and all three of them looked at her.

"We do not do what we do to be reimbursed for it, we are not mercenaries, we are people of conscience, we believe that no people should live as slaves, all peoples are born free and it is how they should live and die, you cannot own another sentient being and we will always do what we can to stamp slavery out where ever we find it and whatever form it comes in," the Deathclaw Seven Seven had called Visa said in a deep voice.

"Pretty human Seven and lucky Alpha claw Visa speaks truth! Theys helps all peoples, they helps Gatorclaws make friends with good humans and shows good humans we's not bad, now Gatorclaws and good humans is friends, live side by side and helps each other and they even makes Thundertail part of their group and promise to help find a pretty human for me to love!!" Thundertail said bouncing on the spot and banging her massive tail on the ground happily, suddenly Varrel could understand where she got her name from at least.

Seven chuckled and turned back to the pair of them, "No catches, no hidden clauses, no expectations, we take the collars off and the rest is up to you, come with us or don't, you make your own decisions from that point well unless you want to join us that is," Seven said.

"Join you?" Vizzy asked curiously and Seven nodded.

"The Free Peoples of the Wastes is always on the lookout for good people, especially with talents like yours, all we ask is if that you do decide to join us you simply follow our rules and that's it really, the choice is yours, like I said freedom," Seven said.

Both Varrel and Vizzy simply could not believe it and as the three of them guided them into the queue of human captives waiting patiently to be freed the pair simply stood there dumb-struck.

"Is this real brother? Are these people real?" Vizzy said finally her voice going through a whole rainbow of emotions as she spoke.

"It really does seem too good to be true doesn't it?" Varrel said and she nodded making her antennae bob and swish.

"Should we go with them maybe just to see what their hive is like?" Vizzy said.

Varrel thought about that for a moment as he watched the queue shuffling forwards to get their collars released, in truth it couldn't hurt to at the very least check their hive out, if they were true to their word then they would be free to leave at any time so it couldn't hurt to look right?

When finally their turn arrived Varrel let Vizzy go ahead of him and she stepped up to Seven who was standing at a table they'd set up where they were collecting the bomb collars they'd taken off people, Visa was seemingly removing the explosives from them and putting them to one side.

"What are you going to use those for?" Varrel asked pointing to the small blocks of explosive.

"Oh, we intend to return them to their owners albeit with a little bit more pep in them," Seven said with a chuckle.

Vizzy chittered her mandibles in alarm for a moment as Seven reached up with a tool in his hand but he slowed his movements and allowed her to watch his hands as he pressed it to the explosive before shorting it out.

"What my beloved one is saying is we tend to use them to blow some slaving fucking into some very small pieces," Visa said and this instantly calmed both Vizzy and Varrel down as they understood now, they were using the weapons of their enemy against them, a smart tactic.

"There were go as free as a bird, well Cazador," Seven said taking the collar from around Vizzy's neck and handing it off to Visa though Varrel noted it floated over.

"How did you do that?" he asked indicating the floating collar and Seven nodded in understanding.

"I'm telekinetic, if you choose to join us I'll tell you the whole story, but for now let's leave it at I can interact with the world simply by thinking about it," he said as he reached up and began working on the collar around his throat.

As varrel felt the weight slip away he felt like he could truly breathe again for the first time since the accursed thing had been snapped onto him, it was like a truly monumental weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he couldn't help but reach up and began feeling his bare but slightly tender throat plates.

"And we're done, alright let's get these people ready to move out we've got quite a walk ahead of us and since we now know the raiders are sending teams out to look over the settlements we hit what do you two ladies say we leave a nice surprise for them?' Seven said and both Visa and Thundertail both got some very vicious smiles on their faces.

"This is why this male stole my heart, he knows what a Claw girl really likes," Visa said grinning at Thundertail.

It turned out that the surprise that Seven had was turning half of the repurposed slave collars into a series of landmines and booby traps that they rigged up all over the slave hive which Seven armed as they all stood outside, Varrel couldn't help but smile as he imagined Torch and his crew of thieving morons walking into this place and having the whole place turn into burning splinters around them.

"Oh by the ethereal hive queen brother, it feels like I'm so light I could float off into the sky!!" Vizzy said buzzing her wings and doing a flying circuit around him before landing next to him again and falling in step with him and the rest of the group.

"Glad we could be of service," Seven said from their left and Vizzy turned to look at him.

"Thank you mister Seven you have no idea what this means to my brother and me," she said and Seven raised a hand to wave off her thanks.

"Don't mention it, it's part of what we set out to do and we're happy to do it, freedom is the birthright of everyone on this blue rock we all share and no one should ever have their life weighed down by chains either physical or metaphorical," he said.

But the biggest surprise they were in for was when they finally reached their hive once again, the sight that greeted them made both of their mouths fall open and their mandibles as well.

All around them were humans and Gatorclaws all working together, humans were guarding while Gatorclaws farmed and Humans cleaned a large pool for the Gatorclaws to bask in, there were humans cooking food for hungry Gatorclaws while other Gatorclaws kept a watchful eye over playing human children.

"Welcome to the first bastion of hope in Nukaworld, this is what we want to bring to everyone everywhere, the strengths of the whole melted together to achieve something wonderful, unity," Seven said.

"It's a hive brother, they've made an interspecies hive," Vizzy said with her mandibles still hanging open in shock.

"Yes sister they have, they absolutely have," he said then he looked up into the sky just as the sun rose high into the sky.

"Do you see it, my queen? We found it we truly found the perfect hive you always spoke of, we actually found it," he said softly to himself.