Radiance Ch. 44

She looked up at Malakai and shook her head and he felt his heart sink, despite already knowing the painful truth even before she'd pulled that helmet off her he had still felt hope in his soul, but now it flicked and vanished like the last candle in a storm being blown out.

Below them, the gunfire had all but ceased and after a couple of sparse shots it did cease and they heard Seven's booming voice echoing up to them, "Amazons you are defeated, lay down your weapons and I promise you will not be harmed, but this is ended, your days of raping, slaving and killing are ended, your queen and her henchwomen are dead, no longer are you slaves to the will of tyrants so I say again, lay down your weapons and you will be treated fairly and justly, lift them up again and you will face the wrath of the free peoples" he said with such power and confidence that it was evident in the echo.

The battle had lasted just ten minutes from start to finish, they had put up far more resistance than Paradise Falls had but finally, it was ended but the cost this time around was a heavy one, even from where they sat Malakai, Wisp and Gregory could see the bodies of more than one of their comrades and friends laid sprawled on the floor being tended by their comrades.

"Fuck I hope this was all worth it," Wisp said glancing at Sheila's motionless body.

"To them, it is," Gregory said gesturing to naked and afraid men who were being shepherded away to be cared for by the prisoner care team that had been waiting on the roof.

"Shuna's going to be devastated," Malakai said softly and the others nodded silently as from below them Runs and Riss appeared having scaled their way back up Malakai's ropes.

"How'ssss SSSShie........oh, oh no" Riss began before seeing the body of the mortally wounded super mutant girl laid out next to them.

"I'm going to make her a body shroud, I'm not going to leave her like that, she deserves all the respect in the world, she gave her life for the freedom of these strangers she didn't even know, even if I have to bury her myself with my bare hands she will be laid to rest with respect and honour, she was brave and she was good, this world is a little darker this day," Malakai said and the others nodded helping him as best they could as he wrapped her up in a death shroud made of his finest silk which was to him the least he could do for her.

Shauna broke down when she saw her best friend laid wrapped from head to foot in Malakai's silk death shroud upon the makeshift stretcher they'd fashioned to get her down from the roof, she fell to her knees and sobbed her heart out as her emotions burst from her like an explosion.

Seven was the first to move, he stepped forwards and he wrapped his metal arms around the grief-stricken woman, next Visa, then Ven followed by Gregory and moments later Shauna was surrounded by a wall of support and love, they picked her up and held her between them.

"You are of us now Shauna you lean on us, never again will you walk alone or in fear because we are right here at your side, we will be your strength and your shield when you need us, when you stumble we will catch you because you are of us and we are of you," Seven said softly.

"Thank you Seven, thank you so so much, all she ever wanted was to make a difference to the world, to make it better and when this happened to us all she wanted was to be accepted, to be loved, hell to be liked, to have someone to love and to care for, she was the nicest person anyone could ever hope to meet, she was so gentle and so happy, she didn't deserve this, it's not fucking right!!" she wailed making them all hold her tighter.

The group lost a total of ten including Sheila and Seven's group paid respect to every single life lost regardless of whether they had known them or not, Malakai wrapped them in shrouds while Seven and the others built them stretchers to be carried on back to camp, the males that had been freed had already been moved back to camp ahead of the others by the rescue team so they could be treated by the doctor and given food and clothing, they had been given something to cover themselves while they'd been moved under guard across the city to the camp and by the time the others had arrived with the now freed former Amazons in tow, those who refused to accept to them was enslavement had been secured they couldn't hurt anybody while being transported so that they could be deprogrammed back in Shepherds camp.

The loss of their friends and loved ones had really put a dampener on what had been at its core a very successful rescue mission, in one fell swoop the group had not only removed an incredibly dangerous group from their midst but had saved multiple innocent lives with their actions, but grief is funny like that, the positive really can be drowned in the negative.

To show his respect Seven organised the funerals of all who had died, he said that like the warrior heroes they were they would be burned in funeral pyres and then their ashes would be returned to Earth so they could return to where they had come from so a part of them would live on in every plant that grew and every vegetable that grew so that their sacrifice would live on in future generations to come.

So while the camp was buzzing with activity as the newcomers were housed and checked over Seven and his team with the help of Shepherd and her team created a series of funeral pyres along the outer wall with the bodies of their friends and comrades entombed within them, Gregory and Shauna also made a memorial for them which consisted of a large stone that Shauna with the help of Ven moved into the compound before Gregory carved the names of the fallen into it, at the top it read 'Fallen Heroes Who Died So Others May Live Free, Remember Them Because They Died For All Of Us.'

At the end of the evening when all was ready Seven gathered everybody together, the only ones who weren't in attendance were the freed Amazons and the male prisoners as they were in no condition to be present, well there was one exception, one of the male super mutants had insisted on being there a large super mutant man with a large bushy beard called Raymond.

Seven strode out in front of everyone gathered free of his power armour now which stood like a silent watchful guardian in the corner, "Ladies and gentlemen we are gathered here to pay our final respects to our fallen friends and sisters, to us they were the people who made our lives better just by being present in them, but to others, they are heroes, those who stood tall and proud in the face of those who would hurt them and others and said no-more! No more will you do this for I will not stand for it and if need be I will lay down my life to make sure that it stops here with me and that's what they did, so while we mourn them we also celebrate them, because of them many of us are still here and for that we also thank them, so join me, brothers and sister, as we say not only goodbye but also thank you, thank you for their sacrifice for the nameless people who they stood for and the named ones like Raymond here who stands with us now because of them" he said proudly.

Shauna was stood in the front row dressed all in black thanks to Malakai's efforts, infact a great many of them were thanks to him going into a mad tailor overdrive, infact it was he and Wisp who stood with Shauna holding her tightly between them supporting her and showing that Seven had meant what he said when he said that their group would be her strength now.

Seven and Shepherd took two torches and while Seven started from the left Shepherd started from the right and moved down the line lighting each of the pyres as they went till all of them was aflame and the light reached high into the sky.

That's when the gathered women began to sing much to Malakai's surprise, it was an oddly beautiful and harmonic tune that while he didn't have a clue of the words he bowed his head to listen to the beautiful haunting tone of it, it sounded like a story being sung, a story of love lost but peace found.

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After the funeral was over Raymond approached Seven who was standing with his group, as he approached all of them looked up but rather than fierce stare he was met with soft looks, "Hey man I just wanted to say thank you for whatcha all did for us and to say sorry about your friend, it was a beautiful thing yall did, you just don't see that shit these days and I wanted to say sorry about your friend, even though I didn't know her I know I speak for all of us you pulled out of those cages when I say I'll never forget her," he said in a soft voice that had an oddly musical note to it.

"You are most welcome my friend and I'm glad you could make it out to stand with us, it is very much appreciated," Seven said softly as his group dispersed to take Shauna back home to care for her, they now had Shepherd and her number among them.

"I know the rest of the guys wanted to be out here too but hell they are just in no shape to stand up, how the fuck we made the walk back here I don't know, they caught me last as I was a scout sent to try and find out what happened to one of our camps when those crazy Amazons bagged me, but even locked in those cages I could see that not all those girls were bad they were just under the sway of some real sick fuckers, they were just scared girls looking for a place in the world after what happened to all of us," Raymond said and Seven nodded.

"Yeah, we know that don't worry every effort is going to be made to help them, that was part of the point to help them and you guys but mainly to just put a stop to it full stop," Seven said.

"Yeah well you did that alright fuck me, dude you hit them like a fucking freight train, so umm I also hear from the girls in the medical bay that you guys aren't part of this place and that you have some sort of human non-human co-operative thing going on that true?" he asked and Seven nodded.

"Yeah something like that, see the big Claw girl there?" Seven said indicating Visa who was helping Malakai to lead Shauna back to their house and Raymond nodded.

"Yeah she's my life mate, everyone in my group is open-minded enough that most of them are relationships with a member of another species, we have two human Claw relationships, a human and a NightStalker girl, a synth non-corporeal human girl and an Arachnakai boy, so yeah you could say that," he said.

Raymond looked amazed at this but then his face broke into a smile and he nodded, "You looking for new members?" he asked and Seven looked stunned.

"Huh? Do you want to join us? Why?" Seven asked cocking his head curiously.

"The girls in the medical building and the girls bringing us over here just kept singing your praises, they told us all about what you guys did to take down paradise falls, more specifically they kept upon about you personally saying you are the guy that every woman here would give he left tit to get the single chance to to get with but given what I just saw I can see why they don't try to put the move on you because they like their arse still attached to their body and not thrown over a wall but that seems to me like people I want to run with, I've been running with the Greasers as they are a great bunch of really cool guys, but I want something different, I want to move on and to see new things and I was told one of the things you guys do is show the world that not all non-humans are bad and I want in on that because things like that will help my boys out a bunch," he said.

Seven thought about this then he strode forwards and stuck out his hand to Raymond who looked surprised for a moment but then smiled and took it in his huge green mit and shook it, "Welcome aboard Raymond now you go get ourselves sorted out in the medical building and let the girls take care of you, we'll be buy in the morning to speak to you and to all of the others, but please if you excuse me now I have a friend in need who really needs me" Seven said and Raymond nodded.

"yeah man you go and take care of that big girl and we'll talk tomorrow," he said and with that Seven turned and headed back to their house, tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.