Chapter 21

Three weeks.

It had been three long weeks since Charon had heard from Rachel outside the saloon. It was killing him. Two weeks ago a new radio signal had come online. The music the rebels played was good, mostly fast paced and Charon was sure Rachel had had a hand in the selection because a lot of the songs he recognized from the ones she had stored on her Pipboy.

The announcements that they made had a lot of people talking too. There were advertisements for hotels in New Vegas and Rivet City. Stories about The Lone wanderer and remakes of the Herbert Daring Dashwood show. There were also stories about an Angel reportedly flying around Chicago.

Charon wasn't sure what to make of that last one. It must be referring to the angel symbol because as extraordinary as she was there was no way his wife had real wings. He would have noticed them.

He'd tried to contact her a few times but she wasn't in range any of the times he'd attempted. Craven, seeing the distress Rachel's silence caused, had done his best to try and keep the big surly ghoul busy. The two men had become good friends in the time they'd known each other and Charon was grateful for the distractions Craven provided.

So far he'd helped build two shacks and organized a training program for any of the men who were interested. Most of the men in Crater City were fighters already of course but a lot of them joined the group in the morning for something to do. He and Craven had also put together a bug out plan.

When Rachel told them to move they'd be ready.

Charon had asked if they could trust everyone in Crater City. Craven assured Charon that they could. The men here didn't take kindly to being thrown in a hole to die. While they might not all be lining up to lay down their lives for Craven they did all want Baron Dominic's head on a spike. Once out of their prison a few might leave their group but Craven was confident nobody would cause too much trouble.

Charon had remembered to tell his friend that the people Rachel was working with were ghouls. He'd been surprised at first but promised to spread the word so nobody got trigger happy around their ghoulish allies. Since most of the men had come to like Charon well enough they didn't have a hard time believing that ghouls weren't as unpredictably dangerous as Dominic and the leaders before Dominic had claimed.

Craven's informant had said that the radio station couldn't be traced for some reason. Something that caused no end of fury from the man they were trying to overthrow. The Baron was having fits about the woman his best men couldn't seem to find. And since she appeared to have vanished without a trace rumors were starting to spread that she really was a being not quite human.

Charon's experience in warfare told him that Rachel's legend was going to be their most powerful weapon for the time being. Rachel herself was good at what she did…the legendary Angel, saving grace of the oppressed was fantastic. Rumors would spread like wildfire and there was no way for the Baron to stop it.

Charon's communicator crackled, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Charon?" She called from the tiny speaker like she'd heard him wishing for her voice. "Charon can you hear me?"

"Yes, where are you?" he asked, she hadn't been close enough to talk in weeks. And certainly not during the day.

"Good, get ready to move out. I'm coming to get you. Do you need more time?"

"No, we're ready to move." He assured her and then his voice softened. "It's good to hear you voice smoothskin."

He imagined her smiling sweetly down at her Pipboy. "That's why I got close enough to talk. I wanted to hear you too."

"What are you planning?"

"Something big. We want to make a statement but it'll be fast. Have everyone ready to move at ten O'clock tonight. Listen for the church bells. That's the signal. We have been busy, we'll be opening a tunnel at the bottom of the pit. Guys have been working on it for weeks. Only a few feet left. Keep everyone back against the west side because we are gonna blow it."

"What about the guards? They'll be raining bullets on us in seconds."

"They'll be busy. I'm taking care of them."

"Rachel," Charon warned. "Are you going to do something stupid?"

She laughed. "No, just crazy. Listen, I have to go. I have a few loose ends to take care of before tonight. Get everyone ready, anyone that wants to fight with us will be welcome at Sanctuary."

Charon nodded and then realized she couldn't see that. "Alright, be careful."

"I will, I'll see you tonight. Over and out."

"See you tonight." Charon grinned. "Over and out."

The door opened and Craven walked in, stopping short when he saw Charon standing in the middle of the room grinning wide.

"I don't think I've ever seen you grin…you look insane." He told the ghoul calmly.

"Rachel just called. We move tonight at ten sharp. She says they are blowing the east side so keep everyone back."

Craven clapped his hands together. "Fantastic! What about the guards?"

"She said they will be busy but we should move fast." Charon told the commander.

"I'll spread the word."

"One more thing," Charon said as Craven turned to leave. "Sanctuary is willing to take in anyone part of the rebellion but they are barely scraping by. Any supplies here that we can carry we should bring. Food, meds, blankets."

Craven nodded. "You're right. We thought about guns and armor but with the ghouls opening their city to us we should do what we can. You're a good man Charon. I'm honored to know you."

"I wasn't always a good man." He assured Craven. "Rachel it responsible for most of that."

Craven laughed. "Then I'll have to thank her when I finally get to meet our Angel in person."

"Is everyone in place?" Rachel asked Ike. They were standing at the very top of a tall church steeple they'd picked. It was inside the wall of the lower city and had taken some skill to sneak inside and get into the church but they hadn't been seen.

Ike checked the mapper Garret had rigged up for them. Each team leader was wearing a transmitter. Each transmitter showed up as a dot on the digital map in Ike's weathered hands.

"Yes, the broadcast will start in three minutes and counting. Are you ready?"

Rachel nodded. They'd been practicing for weeks and she had the hang of her wings. In three minutes a broadcast would start over their rebel station. It was a pre-recorded message from her taunting the Baron. She'd make bold claims about the weakness of a man whose hold on his city could be shaken by a few radio messages. She went on to say that she was coming to rain fire down on his head and some nonsense about rebel outposts all around the city getting ready to move. They were lies, the rebels didn't have anyone inside the city yet but Dominic didn't know that.

They knew it didn't matter that they were lying. It would make Dominic suspicious of everyone around him. His most trusted guards would suddenly be the people he trusted the least. Especially after what they had planned for tonight.

While Rachel's voice was on the radio instructing the people to keep their eyes on the sky for their salvation she would be gliding over the city dropping both smoke and flash grenades on the heads of the guard outposts.

While everyone was looking up Joshua would blow Crater City. Ike would meet Rachel in the lesser prison and break out the slaves locked up there. Garret was responsible for distraction. His team had a wonderful fireworks display they'd been saving for a special occasion.

He'd warned Rachel to be careful of the rockets, they were old and he wasn't sure how much punch they had.

There were a couple other teams in place to raid the store houses on the outskirts of the city.

This would all happen simultaneously. Two minutes after the broadcast started Ike would ring the bells and the teams would all move.

"It's almost time. You'd better get on the cross." Ike told her.

Rachel nodded, climbing up the rope ladder they set up earlier. She put a hand on the tarnished cross to steady herself when she was up and adjusted the goggles on her face before she released her wings.

"All ready," She called to Ike.

"Good, just in time. In 5…4…3…2…1…" the radio they'd brought with them crackled and Rachel's voice floated out.

It didn't seem like a full two minutes as she gazed out over the broken city but Ike told her to go about the same time the radio said to look skyward. She obeyed, pitching forward off the edge of the roof. She opened her wings and hit her thrusters just a little to catch an updraft. Learning how to ride the wind had been difficult but she had the hang of it now.

Below her on the lantern lit streets she could see people coming outside. She heard distant cries and shouts as they spotted her.

She dropped the first flash bang on the guards of Crater City just as the church bells started ringing. Rachel looked for Charon but the pit was too deep and too dark. Part of her wanted to circle around and get closer but it was too risky and she had too much to do. She'd see him later at Sanctuary and remind him why she was the one that won his mind, body, and soul.

Charon's mouth hung open as his eyes tracked the winged figure gliding overhead.

"Is that Rachel?" Craven asked in awe.

"I don't know…it's impossible."

"And yet I'm lookin' at it." Craven murmured. They watched the angel drop something as the church bells rang out for the first time in two hundred plus years and it exploded among the guards above them.

Seconds later the east wall exploded in a shower of dirt. Nobody moved for a heartbeat and then Charon heard Joshua's voice yell. "Move out! Follow us!" the men of Crater City surged forward, load with gear towards their long awaited freedom.

Gunfire sound above them but the shots were poorly aimed and erratic.

Charon and Craven were at the front of the group. When they'd gone five hundred feet Joshua stopped. Charon did too and Craven followed suit.

Joshua waited until everyone was through the tunnel and then he grinned at the other two men, holding out a detonator to Craven. "You must be in charge here. Would you like to do the honors?"

Craven laughed, taking it. "With pleasure." her roared over the noise and hit the button on the device. The charges blew and effectively collapsed the tunnel, keeping the guards from following them.

"Joshua," Josh yelled, holding out his hand to the big smoothskin.

Craven clasped his forearm. "Craven, are you the ghoul's rebel leader?"

"No," Joshua called with a grin, starting forward at a jog. "You'll meet him later. Follow me and I'll take you to Sanctuary."

Fireworks were lovely Rachel thought as the first few exploded off to her right. They were on the other side of the city and still huge. She loved the colors but knew better than to fly closer to them.

Garret had warned her after all.

Rachel glided down to the roof closest to the slave prisons and retracted her wings. She caught herself on the wall and slipped in through a window, her boots hitting the carpet as gunfire sounded not too far away. She jogged towards it, Maria in one hand and another simpler 9mm in the other.

Rachel found the fight in the next hallway and shot the last man from behind. She saluted Ike and the two other ghouls with him with her gun still in her hand.

"Fancy meets you here." she joked, enjoying the high of a well executed mission.

"Well we were in the neighborhood," Ike told her with the same excitement in his milky green eyes.

It didn't take them long to find the prison. They put down the two guards there quickly and Ike went to work picking them over for the keys while Rachel planted herself firmly in front of Ivy. The girl was screaming.

"Shut up." Rachel snapped and the girls mouth snapped closed in response to the order. The reaction sent an unpleasant chilly up her spine. It was way too close to how robotic Charon had been when she'd met him.

Rachel pushed the thought away, latching onto the feeling her prison break was giving her. She planted her hands on her hips and grinned. "I told you I'd be back. We're here to get you out. Everyone, do you trust me?"

Ivy was frozen for a minute and then she nodded. Ike appeared with the Keys and unlocked her door. He moved to Kevin, the boy was laughing, and then down the line.

Kevin stopped laughing when he got a good look at Rachel in her provocative leather rebel armor. In fact the poor boy almost swallowed his tongue.

"Surprised?" Rachel asked.

Kevin nodded, his eyes locked on his chest.

Rachel just laughed and moved to help Ike usher people out of their cells. When all the slaves where unlocked Rachel called out. "Listen up. Follow these ghouls and they'll take you to a safe place. You don't have to trust them…you just trust me. Move out."

"Why should we trust you?" a scared voice asked from somewhere in the crowd.

To Rachel's surprise it was Ivy who answered. "Don't you know? That's our Angel."

The slaves fell in line in response to either the command in Rachel's voice or the legend that had started to surround her.

Ike caught Rachel's shoulder as she turned to leave in the other direction. "Where are you going? You're supposed to leave with us."

Rachel shook her head. "I'm giving the Baron something to do while you get out. I'll meet you at home."

Ike looked like he wanted to argue but there was no time. Instead he told her to be careful and moved her people out.

Rachel took off the way they'd come. When she was back out on the roof she engaged her wings and took off, using the updrafts wrapping around the Baron's place to gain altitude quickly.

She circled once and found what she was looking for, the balcony to Dominic's private rooms. This one wasn't protected by glass like his dining area.

She landed but didn't disengage her wings, she left them folded on her back instead.

She listened at the doors but didn't hear anything. The doors weren't locked so she let herself in. Dominic wasn't home but his wall safe was right were Gina had said it would be.

The lock was harder then she'd expected it to be but Rachel took that as a good sign. When it finally swung open Rachel grinned but her victory was short-lived because the door opened in the adjoining suite and Dominic's furious voice reached her ears.

"I want you to find the Bitch!" he was yelling. "I want her alive! Bring her to me! Now!"

Rachel grabbed everything in the safe, stuffing it all inside her vest quickly. She closed the safe as footsteps approached and bolted for the balcony.

Rachel climbed up onto the wide railing and stood there, looking inside through the open doors as Dominic entered with Severus right behind him.

"Dominic!" she yelled with her cockiest grin. It was one she'd taken the time to practice that morning in the mirror.

The Baron turned with a start and looked at her in her rebel armor with her long silver wings. His mouth fell open in what could only be described as mind numbing disbelief.

"I'm going to kill you." Rachel announced. "Not today, but soon. I told you on the radio, an Angel of death is coming."

The Baron was ghost white and it was Severus who recovered first. He started forward but Rachel pitched backwards, twisting in the air and snapping open her wings. She could hear the Baron yelling curses and orders behind her and she grinned.

She started laughing when she felt the documents sliding against her skin because she now held all the Baron's secret…and he didn't even know it yet.